Empire Australasia - 04.2020

IN THE SPIRIT of John Waters, we’ll say that

no film deserves to be banned, least of all by

a disgruntledTwitter critic (or American

President) who hasn’t even seen the darn thing.

In the case of Blumhouse’sThe Hunt, shelved

by distributor Universal last August in the wake

of the Dayton and El Paso mass shootings, the

controversy turns out to be more sizzle than

steak. AMost Dangerous Game-style thriller

that puts red-state “deplorables” — yep, that’s

what they’re actually called — in the crosshairs

of trigger-happy liberals, the film is head-

splatteringly violent. But if any on-screen crime

is committed, it’s one of being both glib and

boring, weighing down a perfectly trashy concept

with half-smart, self-satisfied zingers. Do you

enjoy being lectured by a 12-year-old? Your

poundingly obvious political satire is here.

These particular 12-year-olds ought to know

better. Co-writers Damon Lindelof and NickCuse

(TV’sWatchmen,The Leftovers) are renowned for

their spooky, silent moods, while director Craig

Zobel once transformed down-market desperation

into pure poetry with 2012’sCompliance. Here,

the vibe is slicker. Enroute to a secret woodsy

playground, jet-travellingsnobs scarf caviar and

champagne while one of their groggy targets —

why isn’t he still in his drugged stupor in the back?

— wanders into fi rst class, only to be stabbed in

the neck. Problem solved. Don’t get too familiar

with these denim-clad unfortunates; The Hunt

brings on its exploding blood mists and spike pits

suddenly, like a latter-day Rambo sequel.

The movie goes just as broad with its

caricatured class divide. Lefty hunters bicker

incessantly about political correctness in between

kills or spout cringe-inducing comebacks: “For

the record, climate change is real!” shrieks one

oldster after issuing a bit of brutality. Meanwhile,

bare midriff s, cigarettes and military trucker hats

indicate the hunted. As it happens, cool-headed

Crystal (GLOW’s Betty Gilpin, physically precise

and commanding) turns out to be some kind of

Mississippi-born superwarrior, fi nal-girling her

way into a kitchen showdown with Hilary Swank’s

spoiled human-safari organiser, who has the gall

to make a grilled cheese sandwich with gruyère.

Their extended clash, gorgeously coordinated

by Marvel veteran Heidi Moneymaker, sends

them through shattering plates of glass, and

features multiple impalements with expensive

utensils and even a slo-mo body hurl over a lit

central fireplace. In shouting range of Kill Bill’s

close-quarter combat scenes, it’s the one

sequence worth sticking around for. Elsewhere,

you’ll pick up whiff s of George A. Romero’s

tawdry class warfare and any number of Purge

instalments, but The Hunt falls short of them.

(Brazil’sBacurau takes an almost-identical

scenario and pulls it off with John Carpenter-

worthy panache.) In the future, we’ll have more

movies about today’s divide — they may even be

dark comedies like this one. Hopefully, though,

they’ll cut much deeper. JOSHUA ROTHKOPF

VERDICT A political football that arrives

punctured and sputtering, this toothless

class satire — an equal-opportunity offender

— shouldn’t have pre-enraged anyone. It’s

hardly the Hollywood takedown the MAGA

crowd feared.

THE HUNT

DIRECTORCraig Zobel

CASTBetty Gilpin, Emma Roberts, Hilary Swank

PLOTAwakening as prey in a deadly game of class

warfare turned real, a dozen confused Americans

find themselves stalked by vicious, self-styled

“godless elites” who seek release for their political

rage. Crystal (Gilpin), a resourceful survivor with

hidden skills, has a different endgame in mind.

OUT9 APRIL

★★ CERTMA15+/90 MINS

[FILM]

ON SCREEN

Car trouble: Betty

Gilpin’s Crystal

fights back.

HOPE GAP

★★★

OUT LATER THIS YEAR / CERT M / 100 MINS

DIRECTOR WILLIAM NICHOLSON

CAST BILL NIGHY, ANNETTE BENING

This wordy fi lm is based on Nicholson’s

play The Retreat From Moscow and it

shows – despite the beautiful scenery

fi lmed in Sussex, much of the story takes

place indoors, usually over a cup of tea.

Hope Gap explores the fallout of the

decision by schoolteacher Edward (Nighy)

to end his 30-year marriage to Grace

(Bening). She’s blindsided by his decision

and the rest of the movie focuses on her

journey through bewilderment, grief,

anger and, fi nally, resignation. While the

viewer’s sympathy is supposed to be with

Grace, she’s such a manipulative (even

physically abusive) woman – particularly

towards son Jamie (Josh O’Connor) – that

you may fi nd yourself feeling sorry for

mousy Edward and wondering why he

didn’t leave her years earlier. DAN LENNARD

MISBEHAVIOUR

★★★

OUT 23 APRIL / CERT TBC / 106 MINS

DIRECTOR Philippa Lowthorpe

CAST Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw,

Keeley Hawes, Jessie Buckley

Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw

headline this patriarchy-bashing would-

be crowd-pleaser. Knightley plays Sally,

a member of the new Women’s Liberation

Movement, set on protesting Miss World

1970. Inside the contest, Jennifer
      (Mbatha-Raw) hopes to be the fi rst black
      winner and become a broadcaster.
      Through her, we see a far richer narrative
      that sadly plays second fi ddle to the
      feminist-by-numbers journey of the
      Movement. The trophy-like treatment of
      the women in Miss World 1970 is shocking
      by today’s standards, but too much time is
      spent spelling out what an audience could
      readily piece together for themselves.
      There’s a great story within Misbehaviour
      — we just don’t get to see enough of it. BW