The Hunt

Let’s get this out of the way early: The Hunt makes extremists on both sides of the elitists/deplorables divide look bad. Of course, it’s the rich folks who are participating in a murderous hunt, planning to slaughter 12 lower-class innocents and assholes they’ve kidnapped and set loose (with weapons) in the booby-trapped woods of what might be Arkansas. So, yeah, the pro-feminist, PC vegetarians are definitely the bad guys.

But this is a dark comedy, and it’s actually pretty funny — that is, if you can stomach the premise and a lot of explicit gore.

You may recall The Hunt as the movie delayed last August after mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton and criticism from President Trump, who tweeted that the movie was made by Hollywood “Racists” who wanted “to inflame and cause chaos.” (He had not seen the film, of course.)

The Hunt is unlikely to “inflame” anyone other than left-leaning Americans sensitive to having their values mocked. Thematically, it’s a riff on what would happen if one of the far right’s nuttier conspiracy theories actually angered an “elitist” enough to seek revenge. In execution (so to speak), it’s a blood-soaked revenge comedy with a memorable heroine, Crystal (Betty Gilpin), the one “deplorable” it proves difficult to dispatch.

Gilpen has had smaller parts in movies like Isn’t It Romantic and A Dog’ Journey but is at her best on the excellent Netflix women’s wrestling show GLOW. The Hunt marks her first starring role in a feature, and we can only hope it won’t be her last. She’s tough and charismatic and underplays beautifully. She can even hold attention for an overlong monologue retelling “The Tortoise and the Hare” with a tragic, Mississippi twist. Her facial expressions alone are reason enough to see the film.

Which is not to say The Hunt is a great movie, just an entertaining one. It’s full of fun cameos by familiar supporting players including Amy Madigan, Ike Barinholtz, and Reed Birney, and Hilary Swank has a late entrance as Athena, the principal villain. (You can guess what happens when Crystal and Athena finally meet, but not how their well-staged confrontation plays out.)

Like Crystal herself, The Hunt goes about its business efficiently (under the sprightly direction of Craig Zobel, a TV director helming just his second feature) and without much regard for politics. The movie, written by Lost creator Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse (The Leftovers), won’t stand up to much critical analysis — it’s not a treatise as much as an extended joke in dubious taste.

While its satirical take on the “elites” is often lame and obvious, it’s often clever in Gilpin’s scenes — funnier than a lot of recent comedies of milder constitutions. It has a satisfying ending, but it’s not trying to be Parasite. If you’re looking for a biting portrait of America’s political and economic divides, this isn’t it. If you’re looking to distract yourself from the news, check it out. Rest assured there will be plenty of seats to separate you from the other patrons.

Grade: B. Rated R. Now playing at the AMC River Hills, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)