The Hunt (2020)

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Movie
German title The Hunt
Original title The Hunt
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2020
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Craig Sable
script Nick Cuse,
Damon Lindelof
production Jason Blum ,
Damon Lindelof
music Nathan Barr
camera Darran Tiernan
cut Jane Rizzo
occupation

The Hunt is an American satire - Thriller provided by Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse written and directed by Craig Zobel by Blum House Productions was staged. He loosely based on the short story The cruelest game of Richard Connell from 1924, in the realms other people hunt, and exaggerated in this way the gap between the two political sides in the United States.

Originally scheduled for September 27, 2019, the release was postponed after attacks in the United States, after which the film was released on March 13, 2020 in American cinemas. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , it was published early on March 20 on video-on-demand platforms. The German VoD or cinema release was May 14, 2020.

action

In a group chat, a woman named Athena writes that she is looking forward to the upcoming hunt for "deplorables" at her property; other participants respond by saying that the property should not be mentioned. In a private plane, passengers are shocked to see a man named Randy stepping out of the hold, dazed and not yet to wake up. A fight ensues in which Athena ultimately kills him with the heel of her high heels . They put him back in the hold where others are lying unconscious.

They wake up with mouth gag in a forest in front of a clearing on which a wooden box is standing. After one of them opens it, a clothed pig runs out and the man pulls out an arsenal of weapons. A young, blonde woman finds a key for the gag and frees the others from theirs when the group is suddenly shot and the woman is fatally hit. Another woman fell into a pit with stakes while running away. A man pulls it out, but steps on a land mine while running . Four more hit a wire fence, but after three of them climb over it, the fourth is hit by arrows and killed with grenades. The three of them come to a gas station with a general store run by an elderly couple. This kills the three. After they have tidied up their shop, they receive the information via a walkie-talkie that “Snowball” is on the way to them.

Crystal walks into the store and, while buying cigarettes, realizes that the information the elderly woman gives her that she is in Arkansas must be false, and she kills the couple. Outside, she finds a Croatian license plate on a car and a bomb that would be activated by the door handle. She warns the newly arrived Gary about this and leads him to rails, where they jump on a train with Arab refugees , whom Gary takes for a crisis actor. When soldiers stop the train, one of the refugees admits to Gary that he is an actor. Gary attacks him and a hand grenade falls out of his pocket. After Gary tucking this into the actor's pants, he runs away while Crystal protects a refugee mother and baby from the explosion. Crystal, who the soldiers learned was from the United States , is taken to the refugee camp and, when questioned, finds out that she is now in Croatia . You and Don, another member of the original group, are picked up by an American ambassador. But when Don tries to get Don to admit that he did something he was chosen to hunt for, Crystal becomes suspicious and kills the ambassador with his car. After Don and she find Gary with a knife in his head and a map in the trunk, she tells him the story "Jack Rabbit and the Box Turtle", a variant of the fable The Turtle and the Hare , in which the hare dies after losing the race Turtle kills. With the map they come to a hunter's hiding place, which Crystal kills. Athena calls Don over the radio, which sounds as if he was a mole of the hunters and had deceived Crystal, whereupon the latter kills him after repeatedly being asked to lower his weapon. Among the hunters, she has so far left their advisor Sergeant Dale alive. She learns from him that he served in the United States National Guard while she served in Afghanistan , and the way to Athena's location. She then shoots him too.

A flashback shows how Athena was fired by her boss a year ago, like other employees, because of her text messages, around which the conspiracy theory “ManorGate” arose, and then later selecting people for the hunt with the other fired participants in the group chat. Although Crystal received a lower rating, Athena personally selected her and named her "Snowball".

Crystal arrives at Athena's property and has to drop her handgun in the mailbox. In the house she finds photos of the hunted, in which the dead are crossed out. In the kitchen she meets Athena, who explains the life of a Crystal Mae Creasey to her and reads her online text about Athena, whereupon Crystal claims not to have been mistaken for this Crystal, but to have been mistaken. After the two fight each other and finally lie there seriously injured, Crystal asks for her alias "Snowball", which according to Athena comes from George Orwell's animal farm , but for Crystal it is more appropriate to Athena. While Athena, who is surprised that Crystal has read Animal Farm and is reassured once more that her opponent is the wrong person, dies, Crystal stands up again. She dresses from Athena's wardrobe, climbs on the private plane with her dog and lets the flight attendant serve her there.

Cast and dubbing

Leading actress Betty Gilpin
Hunted
actor role Voice actor
Betty Gilpin Crystal Creasey Victoria Storm
Emma Roberts Yoga Pants Luisa Wietzorek
Justin Hartley Truckers Manou Lubowski
Ike Barinholtz Staten Island Tommy Morgenstern
Ethan Suplee Gary Olaf Reichmann
Wayne Duvall Don Lutz Schnell
Kate Nowlin Big Red Gundi Eberhard
Sturgill Simpson Vanilla Nice Dennis Schmidt-Foss
Chris Berry Target Tobias Lelle
Sylvia Grace Crim Dead sexy Maria Hönig
Walker Babington Bandana Man
Jason Kirkpatrick Randy
Hunter
actor role Voice actor
Hilary Swank Athena Stone Sandra Schwittau
Glenn Howerton Richard Alexander Doering
Steve Coulter The Doctor (Ted) Markus Off
Amy Madigan Ma (Miranda) Ulrike Möckel
Reed Birney Pop (Julius) Bodo Wolf
Usman Ally Crisis Mike Jaron Lowenberg
Macon Blair Fauxnvoy (Oliver)
Teri Wyble Liberty Sarah Riedel
Dean West Martin Julien Haggège
Vince Pisani Peter Stefan Krause
Steve Mokate Sgt. Dale Peter Münchow

interpretation

characters

The hunt begins with a reference to the twist in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho - called the Janet Leigh trick by Lindelof - in which the previous main character, who was played by the biggest star in the cast, was killed surprisingly early in the plot and therefore in the The rest of the film didn't appear. This twist has already been satirically recorded in Scream . So Lindelof says the next step is to just repeat it. Thus, one after the other among the hunted, various characters, played by familiar faces - Emma Roberts , Justin Hartley , Ike Barinholtz - are brought into focus so that the viewer thinks that this or that is the protagonist and hero whom one will follow through the film , and are then killed early. According to Lindelof, the intention was to make the audience feel, the same emotional experience that the hunted have: that anyone can leave at any time. One should not be too devoted to any of these people, because this is a film in which the hero can die. As a result, for the first twenty minutes or so of the film, the viewer does not know who the main character will be until Betty Gilpin comes into the picture.

In this way, most of the hunted die without their names being given - the names given by the hunters can only be found in the credits in the credits - or further information about them is given. Later in the film, the flashbacks and photo wall at Athenas Manor reveal the reasons they were chosen to hunt from their backstories. These relate to both real-world actions and activities on the Internet, where they promoted the “ManorGate” conspiracy theory, such as Gary in his podcast The Confederate Files . Several of them are portrayed as gun owners, for example "Trucker" / Shane (Justin Hartley), who poses next to a rhino that he has shot. "Staten Island" (Ike Barinholtz), who has already defended the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution in the general store , can be seen in a well-known photo of the torchlight procession at the right-wing extremist demonstrations in Charlottesville in 2017 ; another in anti-gay protests. The figure of Emma Roberts is in a photo next to an - apparently very conservative - politician. They are thus portrayed with conservative traits such as infatuation with weapons and intolerance, which offend liberals.

While the other characters on both sides are portrayed as stereotypical caricatures, Crystal is developed as the center. She is not a political or an apolitical figure. Lindelof says: “She's obviously someone who doesn't want to talk about politics. And that is indicative of a huge number of people in our country. […] They worry more about feeding their families or about having to renew their registration with the motor vehicle authorities. And I think Crystal is a character that speaks for people who think, 'Why do I have to choose a team? I'm on team me. '”The downside to Crystal is Athena, who was forced to take a side, always an extreme one. In doing so, she became who she was accused of by going on the defensive and using the accusations as justifications. “The question we are asking is what happens to someone who is accused of being a monster and not only is accused, but believed. At some point, she just throws up her arms and says, 'Okay, you want me to be a monster, then that's who I will be. If that's what you think of me anyway, I might as well just do it. '”The clothes of the two roles in Athena's kitchen - Athena wears a dark red, crystal a powder blue top - should be reminiscent of Michelle Obama and Melania Trump's at Donald Trumps Inauguration ajar.

End and message

The revelations in the finale of the film, how the hunt came about and that Crystal was apparently not the right one, illustrate the film's position on the modern dangers of misinformation, falsification and speculation. “Thanks to the Internet, our society is empowered to move news and information faster than any generation before, and while this has tremendous benefits, there is also a great capacity for error, which is an integral part of that speed. As certain details are lost and opinions influence interpretation, chaos can result with serious consequences, and the film illustrates that. ”The conspiracy theorists misinterpreted the text messages and destroyed the lives of those they accused of the ManorGate conspiracy. Likewise, Athena may have made a grave mistake if Crystal is not the one she meant. Whether this is telling the truth is less relevant and intended as left open. The question of whether or not the group kidnapped the right one - which they believe deserved it - is a serious moral problem for the hunters, and the very existence of the possibility shakes their justification. "Just as conspiracy theorists have failed to properly examine the facts before jumping to conclusions, so may the wealthy CEOs have made a mistake in their research and punished the wrong person for no reason." Athena had in an earlier scene in the film but didn't want to hear the opportunity to get more information about Crystal because she believed she knew enough. According to Zobel, what they satirize most in the film is the assumption that one knows more than the other and that there are no consequences for this. He says, "We all decided we knew what everyone else was thinking and would like to scream at them how wrong they are."

Another deception and revelation towards the end concerns the character Don, whom Crystal meets as an apparently hunted and ally, but when she learns through a message from Athena that he is supposed to be a hunter, she shoots him after not telling her the contrary can convince. In the struggle of the women, however, Athena again claims that this was not true, but was just a ruse to deceive Crystal. That element of the film is more overt than Crystal's identity, but for ScreenRant's Brynne Ramella , it's probably certain that Athena was telling the truth here. Crystal had to make a decision under pressure and weigh the risks: as a hunter he would have been a threat to her, but if he wasn't, his death would have been a senseless sacrifice. “In a world where people are quick to take words at face value, this behavior can also be dangerous and cause innocent people to be killed. [...] Speculation can be dangerous, and not knowing the full story or listening to all sides of the story can become a problem. "

For Ramella and Michael Kennedy of ScreenRant, the movie's message revolves around social media . Networking on the Internet means that information is disseminated faster than it can be verified. Yet in the culture of political correctness, the statements and intentions of people would be overly questioned. Thanks to social media, the interpretations and theories of others about statements and intentions can spread like a wildfire, which often plays off the political left and right against each other and lets such situations slide to extremes. Kennedy writes: “ The Hunt has no good things to say about social media and suggests that both sides are to blame. While Athena and her friends were wrong in making jokes about killing people, [the right] Crystal and the others were also wrong in insisting that their lives be destroyed. What Athena and her friends did was tasteless, but "canceling" them through a social media movement was unfair. At the same time, being mean to someone on social media does not justify responding with real violence. The Hunt's plot is essentially an extreme example of how internet culture, and especially social media, can sometimes be electronic mobs just intent on punishing those who hate them right now. At the end of the day, everyone needs more empathy and understanding and less immediate desire for destruction. "

Gilpin said in an interview for the New York Times : "[The movie] is a satire of our present day, in which we are becoming further and further apart politically and culturally, so that the walls of our respective bubbles suddenly turn to steel, and it becomes more and more difficult is to get through to the other side. " After the film was suspended in 2019, she wrote an essay for Vanity Fair , which was published on March 11, 2020. According to her, the film is about America's fever. Americans are connected by an internal electrical fire, as freedom fighter Ethan Allen drove, but nowadays it is confusing to be a revolutionary when you have an everyday office job. "We have forgotten where and how to filter the inner revolutionary, and have therefore learned to shove him under a trap door because his outstretched hand is too painful to look at. We sit on this trap door and try to keep our brains busy until we're dying. […] Sometimes the trap door is thrown open and the electrified revolutionary is broken into on the internet by raging our frenzy and spewing out our passions in the form of soundbites . It's the end of the day and if I don't scream, I'm not alive. […] Being furious and right is the only thing that feels like attacking a fort in the night and fog, and we're so distant from each other that we start shouting conclusions and the poison of our various Have the beginning and middle boxes filled in. And then we switch on the Bachelor . "

Literary references

Gilpin Figure Crystal tells Don ( Wayne Duvall ) a bedtime story to her mother, "the Jack Rabbit and the Box Turtle", a variant of the fable The Tortoise and the Hare (English: The Tortoise and the Hare ), in which the hare as a sore loser not accepting the result and killing the turtle. Lindelof thinks the moral of the actual story is terrible, which can only work if the opponent corresponds to a certain personality type. The turtle wins not because of its own endurance, but only because the rabbit takes a nap out of arrogance on the way. Lindelof explains, “In the real world, if that person lost, they would retaliate. So I was always curious about what would happen after the fable. This scene illustrates that if you point your finger at someone and try to teach them a lesson, that finger itself could be bitten off. ”So the hunt of Athena was designed to teach the Conservatives a lesson, but Crystal strikes like that Hare back. Athena's group wanted to teach the hunted a lesson on how to verify their facts. But it is a fitting and cruel irony that even through inadequate research with the wrong crystal, of all things, she caught a military-trained person who has the skills to assert himself in the hunt. Gilpin sees in her character, a veteran , a rabbit who does not get the opportunity to run in everyday life. She says, “I think a lot of us feel like we were born to be warriors and then you're stuck in traffic or an iPhone update has deleted all contacts and you're like, 'What an embarrassing circumstance a gladiator like me. ' I think this movie is, how terrible the circumstances are, it's kind of like Crystal's chance to come true in a really crazy way. "

At the beginning of the hunt, a pig in a T-shirt named Owell, named after the author George Orwell , walks around the meadow next to the hunted . Athena explains that her alias for Crystal, "Snowball," is a reference to Orwell's Animal Farm, which features a pig named Snowball. The animals of the "Manor Farm" lead a rebellion against the farmer and initially justify the animalism that all animals are equal. But Napoleon, the pig, becomes greedy for power and drives Snowball away by spreading lies about him. The pigs that start wearing clothes at the end then consider themselves to be the same as the other animals. Athena does not elaborate on why this alias should fit Crystal; she in turn asks why she chose the name when Orwell's character is an idealist who wants to make the world a better place, whereas Athena sees Crystal as one who spreads falsehoods for her own benefit. Athena is surprised that Crystal knows Animal Farm because she has thought they are less educated and cultured, while keeping herself among the intellectual upper class. Kaitlin Reilly of Refinery 29 interprets the fact that Donald Trump is often compared to Napoleon in the media, that Athena chose the name because she sees Snowball as someone who worked with Napoleon, and writes that in that case Athena had a farm of animals either not read or not understood. When she learns that Crystal is not the right one, she doesn't seem to care because hating what she represents is enough. "To twist the truth to match your desires is to cut a slice of Napoleon - and at that moment it is Athena who appears like the actual Orwellian pig."

Origin and production

Script and staff

Co-author Damon Lindelof
Director Craig Zobel

Universal Studios and Blum House Productions acquired the rights to The Hunt , who by Damon Lindelof was written and Carlton Cuse, in March 2018. As director Craig Zobel was hired. The idea is said to have come to the writers while working on The Leftovers after Lindelof suggested that they next write a Blumhouse film directed by Zobel, who had done so on two of their episodes in Leftovers . Lindelof also had the idea to try out the short story The Cruelest Game . You just need a good reason why the people who hunt others are doing this. While discussing Pizzagate , they wondered what the most ridiculous conspiracy theory one would believe about the politically other side could be. The two writers, who count themselves as liberals, decided that the liberals had to be the hunters because they would be worse at it and would be more concerned about the rules of the hunt. For the representation of the political right, they consulted with friends along the political spectrum. They created the figure Crystal as a moral center on which both sides could agree.

They wanted to do the film with Jason Blum because Get Out as a horror film and comedy inspired them in terms of the tone of the film. Zobel already knew the cameraman Darren Tiernan from working together, namely on the Westworld episode A New Voice (in the original Akane no Mai ). The lead was Betty Gilpin Zobel's first choice, who had worked with her for American Gods before and had seen in GLOW that she could do physical work as well. After Gilpin, her opponent was cast, thinking of Hilary Swank , who has already won two Oscars , including boxing in Million Dollar Baby .

Production and shooting

Stunt man Hank Amos and stunt woman Heidi Moneymaker acted as stunt coordinators for the film . For the final fight between Gilpin and Hilary Swank, which in the script was only described as an "epic fight scene", they worked with director Zobel on a choreography for eight months. Gilpin trained for seven months in preparation for this fight. On the set, she also trained behaviors for her character with two Marines . The kitchen and living room where the fight takes place were set up in a soundstage that was specifically built with Production Designer Matthew Munn so that it could be fought in and still look stylish while doing so.

Filming took place in New Orleans from February 20 to April 5, 2019, on a budget of $ 15 million . Gilpin and Zobel shot different shots for each scene with Crystal, in which she is the right Crystal and the wrong Crystal, so that Zobel could decide how much of the figure they would reveal while editing. For the scene in which Athena is fired in a large, luxurious office space, the actual office of producer Jason Blum was used. The final fight was filmed over five twelve-hour days at the end of the shooting.

The visual effects are from Pixomondo .

Film music

Heather McIntosh was initially responsible for the soundtrack , who had already composed the score for Craig Zobel for the films Compliance , Z for Zachariah and his television series One Dollar . At the beginning of August 2019 it was announced that Nathan Barr has taken over this role . The soundtrack was released on March 13, 2020, the film's release date, by Back Lot Music, owned by Universal Pictures. In addition to the fifteen original compositions contained therein, the film features the three songs Fairytale in the Supermarket by The Raincoat , Mississippi Delta by Bobbie Gentry and Girls It Ain't Easy by Dusty Springfield, as well as various classical piano music in scenes with Athena Stone.

PhD and publication history

promotion

The first announced release date in April 2018 was September 27, 2019. At the end of May a postponement to October 18 was announced, but after a few hours the date returned to September 27. A first teaser was published on July 12, 2019 and the first trailer on July 30.

A test screening was held on August 6, which reported viewers were not satisfied with the political issues. Universal denied it, and a spokesman said the film was received positively and had one of the highest test scores for a Blumhouse film.

Political controversy

While the studios' trailers and official storyline gave no indication of which political ideology the two groups in the film followed, reports of unconfirmed details in the script sparked speculation and outrage that Liberals were chasing Trump supporters.

The Hollywood Reporter incorrectly reported that the original title of the film was supposed to be Red State vs. Blue State (see the terms: Red States and Blue States ), which Universal denies and is clearly denied by the makers. THR described that the hunted were MAGA types and were referred to as "deplorables". This term comes from a speech by Hillary Clinton , who used it to refer to Donald Trump's supporters in the 2016 presidential election campaign . According to Variety, an early draft of the script portrayed working class conservatives as the heroes. Director Zobel testified that the film mocked both political sides equally.

Right-wing and conservative media, citing the Hollywood Reporter, wrote that the film hunted down supporters of US President Donald Trump and thereby promoted violence against them.

The makers of the film say that he satirically exaggerated the separation between the two political camps and did not take either side.

Suspension of publication 2019

After two attacks with firearms occurred in quick succession in early August ( attack in El Paso on August 3 and Dayton attack on August 4), Universal announced on August 7 that the marketing campaign for the film would be suspended. On August 9, US President Donald Trump attacked the film on Twitter without naming it directly. Calling "liberal Hollywood" racist, he said the film was made to heat up and cause chaos. This is how Hollywood creates its own violence. The film had previously been criticized on several Fox News programs on the same day.

A day later, Universal Studios announced that the film would not be released for the time being. A statement from the studio said they understood that the time was not right. The trailers released so far have been taken from the studio website. According to IndieWire, the decision to do so was made before Trump's tweet on August 5th, when banners were removed from the Los Angeles studio site.

Release 2020

On February 11, 2020, a new trailer and a movie poster were released to advertise the controversy and the postponement: It is the 2020 film that has been talked about the most without being seen. March 13th has been announced as the new release date in the United States . Jason Blum said in an interview that nothing has been changed in the film since then; it's still exactly the same movie. A new international trailer with more scenes was released on February 28th. The makers and the cast celebrated the premiere of the film on March 9 at the ArcLight Hollywood multiplex cinema in Los Angeles .

In the UK , the film was released on March 11th. For the opening weekend a gross profit of 8 to 9 or 11 million dollars was expected. However, it was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the closure of many cinemas, bringing it to an all-time low in revenue since 1998. The Hunt picked up just $ 5.3 million. NBCUniversal announced on March 16 that, among other things, the films currently running would be prematurely released on video-on-demand platforms from around the following weekend in order to give people the opportunity to watch them at home. On March 20, the film was made available to users in the United States on Prime Video , iTunes and Google Play, among others , for 48-hour rental.

The German theatrical release was set for May 14, 2020. On March 26, it was announced that the film would be released as video-on-demand on the original date. If the cinemas in Germany have reopened by then, a parallel cinema release is planned. The film will also be available for rental here, in addition to the platforms that are already offering it in the United States, for example in the Sky Store . A German-language trailer was released on May 7th.

The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the United States on June 6th . In Germany the DVD and BluRay release is planned for September 3rd.

Reviews

English

The Hunt receives mediocre ratings on American review aggregator websites based on mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes , it scores 56% based on 209 reviews; on Metacritic a rating of 50 points based on 45 reviews. The impact and expressiveness of the political satirical and socially critical aspects of the film are rated differently, while the acting of the leading actress Betty Gilpin is consistently praised.

Positive to moderate

William Bibbiani of The Wrap finds the film an absurd satire with cartoon characters and exciting action. He writes that the film uses everything we love and hate in one another as fodder for humor and horror and confrontation as catharsis , making it the opposite of escapist entertainment . He also particularly praises Gilpin's performance, for which he is currently iconic and honorable: "If there was justice in Hollywood, it would have an Oscar campaign at the end of the year ." Richard Whittaker for the Austin Chronicle says the cast is outstanding, but The Hunt is Gilpin's film, which deserves its breakthrough as an action star. Even Zobel surprisingly proves to be a first-class action director. Darren Franich, B + rating for Entertainment Weekly , says the film is a great survival thriller, but a disappointing political comedy. As a compromise, the two directions unite behind a top actress. Sable would be lucky to have Gilpin as the protagonist. In a review for Forbes, Scott Mendelson praised the film as "a witty and pointed old-school exploitation film that indulges in current politics without attempting to offer a solution or make a decisive statement," and writes that the film is a star Vehicle for Gilpin (a film that will fuel her status as a star) and a future cult classic thanks to its portrayal : Gilpin offers a richly detailed and screamingly specific character study of a young woman who is just a little different [...] and also really weird . Her facial tics, aggressive thinking aloud habits, and dry observations make her far more entertaining than the stereotypically strong but silent action heroine. "

Scott Collura awards IGN Entertainment 8 out of 10 points and says the film and its social commentary are smarter than it was previously allowed. The makers would know how to balance the insubstantial fun of the premise with a clever, biting comment about the world we live in. Variety's Peter Debruge finds the film smarter and no more outrageous than most studio horror films and one of the most effective versions as a variation of The Cruelest Game . Caryn James writes for the BBC that the film is smarter than its critics. He used genre style figures to explore controversial social issues, and apply elements of vigilantism -Actionfilmen on to create a shifty, snappy and funny looking to parody the political division in America. David Fear from Rolling Stone awards 3 out of 5 stars and writes that the film is neither a harbinger of the end of Western civilization nor the Swiftian satire that its makers want, but simply a better B-movie . As a satire it doesn't quite take shape, but stands out as an exploitation film .

Moderate to negative

Chris Evangelista for Slashfilm rates the film only moderately overall, which ultimately has nothing to say. But he thanks the film gods for Gilpin, without whom the film would be a complete bankruptcy. Even if the film functions as a parable about the dehumanization of the other side, for Sandy Schaefer of ScreenRant the problem with the film is that it does not want to examine in depth how people build their political identity or what factors have led to the political division. As a contemporary social and political commentary, it is therefore meaningless if it dismisses both sides as equally bad and does not investigate where the anger at each other comes from. He is only held together by Gilpin's virtuoso performance. Henry Stewart von Slant writes that the current discourse leads to mutual destruction, is a simplified diagnosis of the cultural makeup and “Be nicer to each other” an inconclusive teaching. The film promotes a bland both-sided-ism that is useless in Trump's present, but very safe for a corporate product that aims to appease rather than radicalize. According to Adrian Horton, who awards 2 out of 5 stars for the Guardian , the film only simulates a point of view instead of actually making one.

1.5-star Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com thinks the film is dispensable in its inability to say anything about the current political climate other than that it's sensitive, as well as being a strange cultural artifact of our time. Gilpin, however, is the secret weapon and saving grace of the film, which would fall apart without her. Jordan Raup from The Film Stage gave the film a D + grade. This was written lazily, constructed inferiorly and downright meaningless; also the cinematic equivalent to Trump's statement " very fine people on both sides " and immediately forgotten again. For Sam Adams for Slate , the lazy script is the movie's biggest problem. The postponement of the publication had prevented Lindelof from being connected to both the smartest entertainment ( Watchmen ) and the dumbest of 2019. “Pretending [that political positions are just a matter of rhetoric] is worse than a lie. It's cowardly, and stems from the privilege of seeing differences as cosmetic because the consequences never reach within your gates. "Johnny Oleksinski for the New York Post gives the film zero stars and writes:" While the premise is a bit disgusting, a finer, funnier film could have turned it into a dystopian warning or a sharp dissection of the national divide. The Hunt is none of that. It is ugly, divisive, useless garbage without a bit of reason, intellect or even camp . "

German

Christoph Petersen from Filmstarts , who awards four out of five stars, sees the film as one of the most entertaining of the year and an iconic splatter fun with clever ideas and badass action. He writes about Gilpin that she “also delivers one of the best performances of the year as a Southern Amazon girl, Crystal - and not just in the genre, but in general, including all the Oscar stuff: She's not just badass as fuck, she is also stoic in such a fascinating and ambivalent way that you immediately want to see her in the lead role of a " Die Hard " reboot - at least until her talk about the rabbit and the turtle , because something so disturbing would NEVER make it into a mainstream Create blockbusters. Her outstanding performance is also one of the main reasons why the action and splatter in "The Hunt" is not only fun, but also really pops. Even in the most absurd intoxicating moments Gilpin exudes such intensity that you almost forget the (liberating) laugh because you simply cannot avoid it. "

For Christian Klosz from Film plus Criticism , who awards seven out of ten points, the film is “a thoroughly entertaining and entertaining satire, which particularly deals with the self-complacency and superiority of self-known politically correct liberal elites, and thus a sore point of the US Society meets. The film has sympathy for the "common people", while it relentlessly holds up a mirror for particularly enlightened elites, from which malicious chauvinism and "social" racism sparkle back. "

Antje Wessels draws the following conclusion in her film review: “The Hunt” is a mix of political commentary and survival horror that is fucked up in the best sense of the word, bitterly angry, enriched with nasty humor, tons of twists and spectacular kills, from the first to the last second , but above all thanks to two excellent leading actresses is a lot of fun. "

Oliver Armknecht, who awards seven out of ten points at film-Rezensions.de, says: "Sold as the scandal film of the year,“ The Hunt ”is primarily noticeable because, for once, liberals hunt for rednecks - and both sides It's quite fun if you can get involved in the absurd situation and enjoy the black to blood-red humor. For a real satire, the whole thing should have been even sharper. "

For kino-zeit.de, Christian Neffe reviews that the film is "on the one hand too much of a genre, primarily trying to meet the needs of action through extremely bloody, varied, surprising glory kills and one-liners on the threshold of tastelessness. and addressing splatter fans (and he admittedly succeeds). On the other hand, the political level (subtext can no longer be used) is so laden with clichés that a discourse is completely impossible. " He wallowed in contempt and ridicule for both camps, to whose extremes Gilpin's apolitical figure was the appropriate counterpoint: "If liberals and conservatives are so divided that a consensus seems impossible, the apolitical path becomes the only solution, so the conclusion . " Although this works on a cinematic-dramaturgical level, as a political and social satire it does not offer a halfway serious solution, but is destructive.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for 199132K . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b Aaron Abishek: 'The Hunt': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about the most controversial film of 2020 . In: meaww.com . February 12, 2020. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  3. ↑ a b c Kim Masters: 'The Hunt' Is Back On: Universal Sets Release for Controversial Elites vs. "Deplorables" satire (Exclusive) . In: Hollywood reporter . February 11, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2020.
  4. ↑ a b The Hunt. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing index , accessed on June 19, 2020 .
  5. ^ A b Scott Collura: The Hunt: Damon Lindelof Explains the Controversial Movie . In: IGN . March 14, 2020. Accessed March 29, 2020.
  6. ^ Daniel Kurland: The Hunt's End-Credits Have Hilarious Easter Eggs . In: ScreenRant . March 15, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  7. ↑ Brynne Ramella: The Hunt: Every character's dark backstory revealed . In: ScreenRant . April 24, 2020. Accessed May 26, 2020.
  8. ↑ a b c Brynne Ramella: The Hunt director got drunk & revealed movie secrets . In: ScreenRant . April 1, 2020. Accessed April 2, 2020.
  9. ↑ Eric Eisenberg: The Hunt ending explained: What is the truth behind ManorGate? . In: Cinema Blend . March 12, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2020.
  10. ↑ a b Brian Truitt: Spoilers! How the bonkers ending of 'The Hunt' hinges on misinformation - and one epic 'whoops' . In: USA Today . March 14, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2020.
  11. ↑ William Bibbiani: Director Craig Zobel Explains How 'The Hunt' is Basically Like Twitter [interview ] . In: Bloody Disgusting . March 13, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2020.
  12. ↑ a b c Brynne Ramella: The Hunt ending's real meaning explained . In: ScreenRant . March 13, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2020.
  13. ↑ Jack Wilhelmi: The Hunt: Was Don Really [SPOILER ?] . In: ScreenRant . March 22, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2020.
  14. ^ Michael Kennedy: The Hunt Criticizes Social Media (& You) . In: ScreenRant . March 24, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2020.
  15. ↑ Dave Itzkoff: Betty Gilpin Is Proud of 'The Hunt,' the Year's Most Controversial Movie . In: The New York Times . March 15, 2020. Accessed April 5, 2020.
  16. ^ Betty Gilpin : Betty Gilpin: The Hunt Raises “a Deranged Eyebrow” at a Divided America . In: Vanity Fair . March 11, 2020. Accessed April 6, 2020.
  17. ^ A b Eric Eisenberg: The Hunt Totally Flips A Classic Fable On Its Ear, And Damon Lindelof Explains Why . In: Cinema Blend . March 15, 2020. Accessed March 29, 2020.
  18. ^ Kaitlin Reilly: Explaining Those Confusing “Snowball” References In The Hunt . In: Refinery29 . March 13, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2020.
  19. ↑ Amanda N'Duka: Universal, Blumhouse pick up 'The Hunt' from 'The Leftovers' creator Damon Lindelof . In: Deadline . March 18, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  20. ↑ Karen Bernardello: Interview: Co-Writer / Executive Producer Nick Cuse Discusses Blending Political Conspiracy Theories with Blumhouse's Horror Sensibilities for THE HUNT . In: Daily Dead . Accessed March 31, 2020.
  21. ^ A b Andrew R. Chow: Inside the Making of The Hunt, From Conception to Controversy . In: Time . March 6, 2020. Accessed March 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ Karen Bernardello: Interview: Director Craig Zobel Talks Collaborating with Betty Gilpin and Satirizing Modern American Politics in THE HUNT . In: DailyDead . March 13, 2020. Accessed March 21, 2020.
  23. ↑ a b c Jason Gorber: 'The Hunt' Director Craig Zobel on How the Chaos Surrounding His Controversial Film Echoes the Movie Itself Interview . In: slash film . April 6, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2020.
  24. ↑ 'The Hunt' Showdown: 7 Months of Training; 7 minutes of combat . In: World Independant . March 22, 2020. Accessed March 28, 2020.
  25. ^ Betty Gilpin trained with Marines for The Hunt . In: List . March 14, 2020. Accessed April 9, 2020.
  26. ↑ a b Ian Phillips and Kyle Desiderio: How the epic final fight scene in 'The Hunt' was designed and filmed . In: Insider . May 5, 2020. Accessed May 5, 2020.
  27. ↑ Mike Scott: Who's filming in Louisiana: From 'Jay and Silent Bob' to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jamie Foxx . In: NOLA.com . December 23, 2018. Accessed on February 12, 2020., see picture 5/16 in the picture gallery
  28. ↑ John Squires: 'The Hunt' VFX Breakdown Video Highlights the Film's Goriest Moments . In: Bloody Disgusting . April 23, 2020. Accessed April 23, 2020.
  29. ^ Heather McIntosh Scoring Craig Zobel's 'The Hunt' . In: Film Music Reporter . July 8, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  30. ^ Nathan Barr Scoring Craig Zobel's 'The Hunt' . In: Film Music Reporter . August 1, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  31. ^ 'The Hunt' soundtrack data . In: Film Music Reporter . March 12, 2020. Accessed April 5, 2020.
  32. ↑ 'The Hunt' soundtrack . In: What Song . March 13, 2020. Accessed April 5, 2020.
  33. ↑ Erik Pedersen: Universal shifts Damon Lindelof's 'The Hunt' up three weeks to September . In: Deadline . May 31, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  34. ↑ Spencer Perry: Welcome to Manor House with The Hunt Trailer . In: Comingsoon.net . July 12, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  35. ↑ Mike Floorwater: Blumhouse's The Hunt: Trailer teases a most dangerous game . In: Looper . July 30, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  36. ↑ a b c Gene Maddaus and Brent Lang: 'The Hunt' Director Breaks Silence on Film's Cancellation (EXCLUSIVE) . In: Variety . August 19, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  37. ↑ Dan MacGuill: Does at Upcoming Movie Depict 'Liberals' Hunting Trump Supporters? . In: Snopes . August 9, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  38. ↑ a b Kim Masters, Tatiana Siegel: Ads Pulled for Gory Universal Thriller 'The Hunt' in Wake of Mass Shootings (Exclusive) . In: The Hollywood Reporter . August 6, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  39. ↑ Dirk Libbey: No, The Hunt Was Never Named 'Red State vs. Blue State ' . In: Cinemablend . August 20, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  40. ↑ Universal Pictures cancels Hilary Swank film depicting Liberal voters hunting Trump supporters . In: National Post . August 12, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  41. ^ Matt Margolis: Hollywood Film Depicts Trump Supporters Being Hunted for Sport by Liberals . In: PJ Media . August 7, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  42. ↑ Brian Flood: Hollywood blockbuster that satirizes killing of 'deplorables' causes outrage: 'Demented and evil' . In: FOX News . August 7, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  43. ↑ Trilby Beresford: Universal Pulls 'The Hunt' Ads Amid Gun Violence Uproar . In: The Hollywood Reporter . August 7, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  44. ↑ Jeremy Barr: Trump's Apparent Interest in 'The Hunt' Follows Heavy Fox News Coverage . In: The Hollywood Reporter . August 9, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  45. ↑ Pamela McClintock, Trilby Beresford: Universal Scraps 'The Hunt' Release Following Gun Violence Uproar . In: The Hollywood Reporter . August 10, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  46. ↑ Tom Brueggemann: Exclusive: Universal's Decision to Cancel 'The Hunt' Release Was Made Before Trump Criticism . In: IndieWire . August 13, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  47. ↑ Perry Nemiroff: 'The Hunt' gets a new release date and trailer that plays into the controversy . In: Collider . February 11, 2020. Accessed February 12, 2020.
  48. ↑ Brooks Barnes: 'The Hunt,' a Satire With Elites Killing 'Deplorables,' Is Revived . In: The New York Times . February 11, 2020. Accessed March 3, 2020.
  49. ↑ Torsten Schrader: The Hunt - The hunt is on! Trailer for the hotly debated survival shocker . In: Blairwitch.de . February 28, 2020. Accessed March 9, 2020.
  50. ^ Brian Gallagher: Hilary Swank and Betty Gilpin hit the red carpet in chic white and black ensembles at The Hunt premiere . In: Daily Mail . March 10, 2020. Accessed April 2, 2020.
  51. ↑ Jeremy Fuster: 'I Still Believe' expected to top 'Bloodshot' and 'The Hunt' at weekend box office . In: The Wrap . March 10, 2020. Accessed March 16, 2020.
  52. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro: Vin Diesel Pic 'Bloodshot', KJ Apa's 'I Still Believe' & Blumhouse's 'The Hunt' Hit Theaters Amid Coronavirus Jitters . In: Deadline . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 16, 2020.
  53. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro: Weekend Box Office Plunges To 22-Year Low At $ 55M +, Theater Closings Rise To 100+ Overnight As Coronavirus Fears Grip Nation - Sunday Final . In: Deadline . March 15, 2020. Accessed March 16, 2020.
  54. ↑ Sam Adams: Universal Reacts to Coronavirus by Releasing New Movies Straight to Streaming . In: Slate . March 16, 2020. Accessed March 16, 2020.
  55. ↑ Kayla Cobb: How To Watch 'The Hunt' on VOD . In: Decider . March 20, 2020. Accessed March 20, 2020.
  56. ↑ Torsten Schrader: The Hunt - Too Controversial for the Cinema? Universal says no: German cinema release is set . In: Blairwitch.de . February 14, 2020. Accessed March 9, 2020.
  57. ↑ Julius Vietzen: "The Hunt": Scandal horror film is also released in Germany as a direct stream for home cinema . In: film starts . March 26, 2020. Accessed March 26, 2020.
  58. ↑ Pierre Wilke: THE HUNT: German trailer available online (to borrow at home from May 14th) . In: Movie Fun . May 10, 2020. Accessed May 12, 2020.
  59. ^ André Beyer: The latest films from Thursday in the Sky Store . In: Digitalfernsehen.de . March 25, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  60. ↑ Universal Pictures Germany: The Hunt - Trailer deutsch / German HD on YouTube , accessed on May 7, 2020.
  61. ↑ Daniel Fabian: Controversial highlight: German trailer for the scandalous horror film "The Hunt" - coming soon, especially in home theaters! . In: film starts . May 7, 2020. Accessed May 8, 2020.
  62. ↑ Brad Miska: 'The Hunt' Tracks Down Digital, Blu-ray and DVD Releases . In: Bloody Disgusting . April 15, 2020. Accessed April 17, 2020.
  63. ↑ Karsten Serck: "The Hunt" in September on Blu-ray Disc and cheaper online . In: Area DVD . July 6, 2020. Accessed July 7, 2020.
  64. ↑ The Hunt at Rotten Tomatoes (English)Template: Rotten Tomatoes / Maintenance / "imported from" is missing
  65. ↑ The Hunt at Metacritic (English)
  66. ↑ William Bibbiani: 'The Hunt' Film Review: Satire thriller Takes Aim at Red and Blue America Alike . In: The Wrap . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2020.
  67. ^ Richard Whittaker: The Hunt . In: Austin Chronicle . March 13, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2020.
  68. ↑ Darren Franich: The Hunt is a sketchy riot rescued by an astounding Betty Gilpin: Review . In: Entertainment Weekly . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2020.
  69. ↑ Scott Mendelson: 'The Hunt': Betty Gilpin's star turn may turn this year's unluckiest movie into a cult classic . In: Forbes . March 30, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  70. ^ Scott Collura: The Hunt Review . In: IGN Entertainment . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2020.
  71. ^ Peter Debruge: 'The Hunt': Film Review . In: Variety . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2020.
  72. ↑ Caryn James : The Hunt review: Donald Trump got this sly satire all wrong . In: BBC . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2020.
  73. ↑ David Fear: 'The Hunt' Review: Red vs. Blue, Predators vs. Prey in Twitter's America . In: Rolling Stone . March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.}
  74. ↑ Chris Evangelista: 'The Hunt' review: Betty Gilpin kicks ass in an otherwise lackluster gore-fest . In: slash film . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 21, 2020.
  75. ^ Sandy Schaefer: The Hunt Review: The Controversy is More Interesting Than the Movie . In: ScreenRant . March 13, 2020. Accessed March 21, 2020.
  76. ^ Henry Stewart: 'Review: The Hunt s empty provocations are a show of bland bothsideism . In: Slant . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 21, 2020.
  77. ^ Adrian Horton: The Hunt review - gory Trump-baiting satire is more hype than horror . In: The Guardian . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2020.
  78. ^ Monica Castillo: The Hunt . In: rogerebert.com . March 20, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2020.
  79. ↑ Jordan Raup: The Hunt Review: A Lazy, Pointless Satire . In: The Film Stage . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2020.
  80. ↑ Sam Adams: 'The Hunt' is too dumb to justify Trump's outrage . In: Slate . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2020.
  81. ↑ Johnny Oleksinski: 'The Hunt' review: Elites shoot the 'deplorables' in this ugly misfire . In: New York Post . March 11, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2020.
  82. ^ Christoph Petersen: The Hunt . In: film starts . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  83. ↑ Christian Klosz: "The Hunt" - criticism . In: Film plus criticism . March 16, 2020. Accessed March 29, 2020.
  84. ^ Antje Wessels : The Hunt . In: Wessel's film review . March 21, 2020. Accessed March 29, 2020.
  85. ↑ Oliver Armknecht: The Hunt . In: film-Rezensions.de . May 13, 2020. Accessed May 19, 2020.
  86. ^ Christian Neffe: The Hunt (2020) . In: kino-zeit.de . Retrieved May 19, 2020.