The Hunt Isnt A Bad Movie: Its Too Real For 2020 – Screen Rant

Craig Zobel's sleek political satire wrapped in a guns-blazing horror movie,The Hunt, managed to stir up enough controversy to potentially scare away an audience who might believe it to be too real for 2020.

Any time a film is surrounded by controversy, there's likely reason behind it. In the case ofThe Hunt, it was already pulled from Universal's 2019 release schedule following mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio as a critical lens was being placed against violent media. Furthermore, the film got the attention of President Donald Trump and was hit hard with criticism from his supporters and those with a conservative political lean who condemned the film's portrayal of "deplorables" being hunted by "elites". While that is part ofThe Hunt's message, there's much more than the surface - and trailers - suggest. Deep down,The Huntis really about the divisive ways of the Internet, social media, and how it's causing a wedge between previously reasonable people and making them enemies because common ground is increasingly hard to find.

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The Huntunfortunately suffered again during its second attempt at releasing theatrically in March 2020, and was flanked by theater closures in the wake of the COVID-19 spread. However, as it is available to stream for home audiences, the lukewarm rating seems to be holding even with new viewers. Currently, it holds a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with critics, though has a slightly higher audience score at 66%. The reviews were surprisingly negative out of the gate, which prompts the thought that perhaps the disinterest and dislike ofThe Huntcould be because it's too close to real life.

The Hunt's source material,The Most Dangerous Gameby Richard Connell, which was a short story first published in 1924, was also full of political and social commentary. The concept of the rich hunting the poor or one social group hunting another is nothing new - even in horror, which has arguably always been political. Movies like Jordan Peele'sGet Outand Brian Yuzna'sSocietyare some of the first that spring to mind when thinking of horror movies with these sorts of concepts behind them, pushing the horrors of social, race, and class divides on a high-octane, nail-biting stage. However, for some reason, Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof's story didn't stick the landing with its audience.

This has happened before, particularly with Ryan Murphy's seventh season of his popular horror anthology series,American Horror Story. The seventh season,Cult, explored the world in the aftermath of Donald Trump's election as US President after the 2016 election cycle and commented on the paranoia some people felt, particularly those in marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ and Hispanic community. In fact, the antagonist ofCult, Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) was a Trump supporter who considered notorious cult leaders like Charles Manson to be prophets, and aspired to create his own cult in their image. It was certainly incendiary, and sent the wrong message to some. To others, it was picking at an already open wound, and additionally,Cult had to cutfootage of a fictional mass shooting after the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WhileCultis revisited now by fans of the series, and somewhat better liked after the passage of time,The Hunt is very likely a film that will be panned and disliked in 2020 because its messaging isn't as clear in the present moment as it will be to audiences in the future. For that, and many other reasons, it will likely become a cult classic down the road, but for now,The Hunt paints a picture that is just too real for some audiences because it's, in many ways, ahead of its time.

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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh. Follow him on Twitter @JackMacabre or his dog on Instagram @quillthethrill.

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The Hunt Isnt A Bad Movie: Its Too Real For 2020 - Screen Rant