The Hunt (2020)

Score: 3.5 / 5

One of the most complex and controversial movies of our age has finally been released and nobody knows what to make of it.

A group of strangers awaken in an unfamiliar forest, locked into their gags, in broad daylight. Fighting panic, they gather in a small clearing around a large wooden box that feels like something between The Hunger Games cornucopia and the plane at the beginning of Lost. The opened box contains a wealth of weapons (along with a pig that might as well scream Lord of the Flies) that the confused and now excited people claim for themselves. Suddenly and violently, they are attacked by bullets from unseen assailants and run for cover, hoping to avoid the booby traps around them. Once they scatter, one by one they begin to realize they are being hunted, and the hunting grounds are being watched by drones, radio waves, and people in disguise. But humans, it would seem for those who don't already know, are the most dangerous game.

So what the heck is this much-maligned movie all about? What was it that made Trump paranoid and angry enough to tweet about it (even though, at that time last summer, no one had seen the damn thing yet)? What was it really that caused Universal to delay its release over half a year? Well, the basic premise is that these people being hunted are conservatives; their hunters are liberals. But labels here are more important than any basic human element -- in a story that works by dehumanizing people, the only things that matter are ideas and ideals -- and this isn't a story about normal people of certain political persuasions. These are distinct caricatures of extremists, all murderously angry about the state of the union, all frighteningly eager to enact the vitriolic hatred they spew onto social media. Sure, the MAGA-supporting "deplorables" are nominally the victims here and the wealthy, condescending "elite" seem to be the villains, but that's only a means to pit the two groups together. It could just as easily work the other way around, and there would be no thematic difference.

I find the beginning of the movie to be sorely miswritten and misdirected, because the opening two scenes paint broad pictures without allowing us time to think through the ideas puked out at us. We begin behind a shadowy figure leading a group text -- it's Hilary Swank's voice -- that coolly references a Manor, a Hunt, and deplorables. We have little context to all this, but we're immediately sure that these are "liberal" folk callously preparing to do bad things. We shift suddenly to a luxury jet in which caricatured liberals are contentedly served with caviar and booze, en route to this Hunt with some drugged, unconscious conservative people are stashed in with the baggage. One of these wakes up, staggers out asking for help before being slaughtered in the main plane cabin. It's more gruesome than funny, but because we don't really know what's happening we have little choice but to chuckle.

But after the scene with the pig, the box, the weapons, and the first murder of the Hunt, the movie kicks into what it's really about. It's a skillfully delivered thriller, designed to capture its absurdist black humor and extravagant gore from a perspective of surprisingly accessible neutrality. The cinematography and editing are grounded, tight, and clear, often so much so that I would pause and wonder if the whole movie was meant to be in earnest. But with the constant stream of hashtag-jargon and meme-worthy soundbytes coming from the archetypal characters and the constant Eli Roth-esque splattering of blood, you're reminded fairly often that this is the way we often treat the Internet, too. As a deplorable runs for his life, he eagerly spits out his disdain for refugees; as an elite prepares to murder someone, he is criticized for cultural appropriation and micro-aggressions. Some people take everything as a joke (until it's clearly not), while others take everything seriously (and eventually make fools of themselves). So much is lost when we forsake open and curious communication.

Which is, no doubt, writer Damon Lindelof's primary axe to grind here. It is no coincidence that his (again, nominal) victims here are angry trolls on the Internet who have spread hate and cruelty though chat rooms and comment sections, fueled by their insane conspiracy theories. Lindelof's magnificent work has been repeatedly maligned online by angry fans who essentially forced him off Twitter after Lost and before The Leftovers allowed him to prophesy our cultural future. This movie isn't Lindelof at his best, but perhaps his most dangerous: he effortlessly captures the kind of humor you see on SNL and repurposes it into a stew of dryly funny horror that he serves up with his typically self-aware dialogue and thrilling twisty narrative.

Lindelof places a woman named Crystal at the center of his story as the most mysterious character I've seen on film in a long time; that is, she is hard as the gem, if nowhere near as crystal-clear. Once she shows up -- seemingly she was one of the abducted and now hunted -- we know she's in it to survive. Ex-military and especially good at hand-to-hand combat, she seems coded as a conservative. Betty Gilpin plays Crystal with as much muscle and sass as you could hope for: she's as cool and quiet as classic-era Eastwood but ekes out jaw-droppingly brilliant moments of comedy with a simple jerk of an eyebrow or tilt of her head, an unwillingness to look at (or care?) about the people around her, and a strangely high-pitched sound occasionally escaping her otherwise locked jaw. She's cool and badass and utterly unreadable.

Especially at the end, and this is where I'll leave it all. While Crystal remains a mystery, a few things happen to complicate matters, especially when she finally confronts Athena (Hilary Swank), the leader of the Hunters, and surprises her with a few tidbits about herself. Namely, that she is far more educated than expected -- her practical application of Orwell's Animal Farm to her newly met adversary is truly chilling -- and that she was mistakenly abducted in place of the intended victim. Moreover, the climax, which consists of a brilliantly choreographed and photographed fight scene, includes a huge twist I absolutely did not see coming. And by the denouement, I was so hopelessly lost in the complicated implications of this apocalypse that I still have no idea if there is even a discernible moral to The Hunt. Other than, I guess, don't be an asshole?