12 Republicans find themselves in The Hunger Games, but the twist is that they are hunted by a group of Liberal elites. That is the premise of Craig Zobel's controversial satire, The Hunt. Originally set for a September 2019 release, Universal cancelled their plans to release the film after the mass shootings that occurred in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio in August 2019. They felt it was "not the right time". This decision generated controversy and attracted the attention of President Donald Trump who labelled the film "racist" and "bad for our country". In February 2020, it was announced that The Hunt would finally hit cinemas on March 13th, and with this amount of controversy surrounding it, it had to deliver.
After two intriguing opening scenes, The Hunt begins with Emma Roberts' Yoga Pants (yes, that is actually her character's name) waking up in the woods with a metal mouth gag tied to her face. Yoga Pants quickly realises that she is not alone and makes her way to the central point of the hunting ground where the group have found a selection of weapons...and a pig. 'The Hunt' then kicks off with Roberts and fellow fan-favourites Justin Hartley (Trucker) and Ike Barinholtz (Staten Island) all making short-lived appearances as they compete in a strange relay-style race, passing screen-time to each other as if it is a baton.
The Hunt does a bait-and-switch with its cast three times before Betty Gilpin's Crystal is revealed as the lead. Crystal is a smart and ballsy female character who is always one step ahead of her peers. She sniffs out any liberal moles, notices disguised and deadly traps, and excels in combat. She is the type of character that, if portrayed correctly, could skyrocket an actor's career. This should be the case for Gilpin, who is currently known to most as Debbie from Netflix's GLOW. She is great. Her gritty performance sells the action, the dry humour, the empathy, and even the character's dramatised retelling of the Tortoise and the Hare fable. However, the controversy surrounding The Hunt will likely overshadow Gilpin's strong performance.
While Crystal is easily the most likeable Republican (even then, her political stance is revealed to be ambiguous), the rest of the group are incredibly hard to empathise with. One of them is a trophy hunter, another is a raging homophobe and the rest all have links to other extreme conservative beliefs. On the other hand, the gang of evil Liberal elites are mockingly represented as caricatures. Their diets are vegan, they stan social justice advocate Ava DuVernay and they believe strongly in feminism (the latter proves detrimental). This seems like a film Donald Trump would love!
The idea that The Hunt victimises the villains of society made it very uncomfortable to watch. The viewer should not be asked to care about characters who are indefensibly problematic and then fear those with generally guilt-free pasts. Yet while it could be easily misread in this way, I don't think that director Craig Zobel intended for this to be a pro right-wing film that pokes fun at Liberals. By including satirical depictions of both stances, a central protagonist who is politically ambiguous and deaths that are excessively gruesome, Zobel creates a mockery of American society and politics today.
The Hunt's inclusion and use of 'crisis actors' helps to unpack this further. When Crystal and (Shut the F**k Up) Gary (Ethan Suplee) seemingly escape 'The Hunt' by boarding a moving train, they encounter an immigrant family. At first Gary acts quite radically, threatening the family and questioning their integrity. His racist behaviour is unsettling to watch, especially because the viewer is supposed to root for Gary. However it is soon uncovered that the father figure of the family is indeed a 'crisis actor'. Crisis Mike (Usman Ally) is one of the Liberal hunters and planted himself on the train to catch Crystal and Gary. The reveal is intended to be comical but instead adds to the film's overall sense of uneasiness. In just one scene, the viewer's sympathy (Liberal) towards the immigrant family turns into scepticism (Conservative)...is Zobel suggesting that Liberals are too sensitive? That Republicans have more wit? Or that politics isn't as clear-cut as many think? Unlike Jordan Peele's Get Out, which has explicit social commentary, The Hunt operates in a grey area, never making the bold statements it wants to.
This is the same problem I had with Tod Phillips' Joker. It's irresponsible satire that can easily be misinterpreted and, dare I say it, enjoyed as thrillingly brutal entertainment. After all, The Hunt does succeed in being exciting and barbarous. It fuses the hideous gore of Saw (who knew high heels could be so lethal!) with the endless tension of The Hunger Games, and with only a 90-minute runtime, it doesn't become tiresome.
Does The Hunt, and its glorified violence, live up to the controversy? I think it does...but you can decide whether that is a good thing.
