Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are -- or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal, turns the tables on her pursuers.
As soon as I initially saw the trailer for this film I was gripped by the underlining story, a rich group of elitists who kidnap those of a lower class, and hunt them in a 'Hunger Games' type of action film, which focuses on following the (long and some very short) stories of the characters as the 'game' progresses. Before I'd even seen the film, I knew it would be full of action and gore, and that's exactly what the film provides, but what the film does which stood out for me is its story, not only is it super creepy, but even just the tagline for this film "only designated people may be hunted at the manor" sends a shiver down the spine for many, and it sure did for me! Onto the main question though, is this film sending shivers down my spine now for a good or bad reason? Here are my thoughts.
For action films like this, it's really important that the film starts not only in a gripping and exciting manner to build a sense of tension but also to get the right balance between this and introducing the story and characters in a meaningful and proper manner - otherwise the film will fall flat on its face. This film certainly doesn't have that problem, it introduces the film and story in a really strange yet sinister manner, through a text conversation describing 'the hunt' - it doesn't give context as to what it is (although I'd seen the trailer so it was obvious!) but the film makes references to it a lot at the start, often in mysterious references such as calling it 'the event' and these all come together to help create a sense of mystery around the event, right from the very beginning which helps to grab our attention straight away.
The film also gives a great insight into the strange nature and culture of the characters early on too, seeing the confrontation on the plane feels confusing, because the film doesn't explicitly say what is going on, but I feel like this is done purposefully, and during the gory fighting and murdering on the plane of a poor man, it introduces the film in a really strange way, but effective in terms of the mysterious feeling helping to draw us in and excite us. As I said, the film certainly doesn't hold back in terms of intensity at the start, but it gives a great insight into the two groups of characters that we see in the film, which is especially helpful later on. The high-intensity start helps to give the film a really brutal and intense start, which is gripping and gives us a clear flavour of what's to come.
One of the best things about this film, is the execution (pardon the pun) of the hunt, and how the event is introduced. It's really important for us, because not only do the vague references and secretive nature to it give the storyline a really scary feeling, but it also helps to give the film a great sense of excitement, we never really know what will happen to the characters, and this unpredictable nature is key to keeping the film feeling fun and enjoyable from start to finish. The film can engage with us well by constantly luring us into a false sense of security, the amount of tension that the film builds at the start seeing characters terrified at the opening of the box, only to find a pig run out and then the characters start getting shot at is surprising and the emotions of the characters are infectious. We can feel their confusion and terror, because of the vague nature of the start to the film, we are essentially given the same amount of context and detail as the characters which help to give us a driving seat kinda feeling to the film, we are always curious as to what is and what isn't real, and the film works well as enticing us to make connections and assumptions about the various characters motives too, which I like.
This false sense of security is key though because it helps to maximise the excitement and shock of the film, for example seeing characters falling into pits of spikes, seeing the fake refugees, or finding out that they aren't even in the US anymore helps to keep the film feeling fresh, whilst giving it an unpredictable nature too. To back this up, many films that try to follow the same action type theme typically don't have a character set which feels engaging or particularly exciting, whereas in this film I liked them. The unpredictable nature of the film made me think that maybe 'Yoga Pants' or her friend would be the main characters of the film, but it feels like a baton is passed as each character which we feel may be the main character, dies until it settles with Crystal. Overall though, I really like the characters in this film, sure they aren't 100% realistic, but it isn't a film which is trying to aim for realism, but instead, it wants to be exciting and fun and it does that well. Betty Gilpin puts in a great performance here, and arguably helps to bring the film up a few levels, not only does her character feel unique, but exciting and unpredictable too - I loved seeing how she had no real interest in finding out why the event was happening, but just wanting to kill them all instead, part of her role involved a twist at the end and this is put into the film nicely and helps to make a lot of connections throughout the film. She is initially established in a subtle way which I loved because it gives the impression that she is really smart, despite the film not letting us know that she will be the main character, seeing how she used her name tag to undo her face lock even though it’s subtle, it cleverly established the fact that she’s ex-military and that she's a strong character - I loved it! The other characters are great too, and Hillary Swank feels like a devious character with a genuine reason and emotion behind the hunt which helps to make her character feel realistic, although in some places her character feels a little plain and that it doesn't deviate from the typical 'self-made businesswoman character model'.
On the whole, though, the characters feel really exciting, and even though they drop like flies, they feel really exciting and help to bring a lot of energy to the film, from both sides and it helps to give the film a great sense of sinisterness. The brutal nature of them also gives them an exciting feeling, because the characters always feel so vulnerable, and it helps to make their decisions feel important and meaningful, which gives the film a real story feeling to it.
I loved the idea behind the plot, and the actual execution of the story is surprisingly good too, given the massive risk of it feeling too corny, it has a 'Hunger Games' type feeling to it, in the sense that the characters always feel vulnerable which gives us an emotional attachment to them, and it also has an immersive adventure feeling to it. The film doesn't just focus on Crystal trying to escape by running away, but the series of challenges and issues that she faces, some more unpredictable than others helps to give the film a series of stages to it, and by doing so gives it a good feeling of progression, it kinda feels like each of the challenges that she faces are another level, where we are constantly on edge. The film always focuses on the actual hunt event though, and even though I thought part of the film would involve them going back to their homes and hunting down the hunters, the film does follow a more basic path whilst always staying true to its main themes, through character dialogue such as "They're sick people, but surely you've done something wrong" - which gives a creepy and unnerving feeling to the characters they meet. The film doesn't massively delve into the adventure element, but it does enough to give us enough to bite into and to excite us too.
The actual story is fairly straightforward, and because it involves us so well, really is effective at exciting and immersing us within what is going on, the film seems to make sense and even though the actual plot of the film can be difficult to imagine happening in real life, it is integrated into the film in a way which feels simplistic and straightforward, with a hint of complexity to prevent it from being too basic (such as adding in a US military support commander) and these complex elements keep the wheels going well. The actual story, in theory, is great though in terms of its idea, not only is the idea behind the film quite scary, it's also really thrilling and that's part of what makes the film so enjoyable and tense, because of the sinister and scary feeling behind it.
How characters communicate and interact with each other gives them an immersive and realistic feeling, they genuinely feel scared at points, and the really strange personalities of the hunters are conveyed to us well, giving us an important insight into their strange attitudes and motives behind the hunt. The dialogue is really exciting though like I mentioned, characters giving off subtle hints that they are not who they claim helps us to question everything and everyone, and gives the film an intense feeling to it, even when it reveals which characters are who they say they are, and which ones aren't. This is just exciting because it makes us question everything, we never know whether a character is who they claim to be, which keeps us on our toes for the whole film and therefore keeps the film feeling fun throughout.
The film wasn't all perfect though, and I'd like to point out some of the problems I had with the film. My main problem relates to the interrogation scenes, I have no idea what their purpose was because they just didn't add anything to the film, I wanted to see more about why they did 'the hunt' and more of Paul and Nicole (the characters interrogating Athena) but there was no explanation for what they were doing, it would have been great for them to be police officials investigating the conspiracy theories, but they didn't and that scene (albeit it being 5 minutes) just completely distracted from the flow of the film. As well as this, I wanted to see more from the conspiracy theories on the internet (as mentioned by the characters) and to see the characters before the event posting their thoughts online, but they aren't shown and it makes this secretive element to the hunt feel weak and unsupportive because it doesn't delve into these themes very well and it's a real shame because it offers a great feature into the film, but it falls short.
Overall, I would give this film a 7.5. It's a real shame because I want to give it a much higher rating, because of the great immersive feeling that the film gives us, as well as the great level of excitement and mystery that the film offers too but the interrogation scene and the lack of depth surrounding the characters motives to start 'the hunt' means that key parts of the film fall short and feel weak. On the whole, though, the film feels good in terms of how it always keeps us on our toes due to its unpredictable nature, and the characters always feel exciting and unique, which makes their journey throughout the film feel fun and straightforward to follow. Would I recommend checking this film out? Yes, I would, it's a great watch and for some, it might be one of the most exciting films you see for a while due to it's fast-paced and unpredictable nature - it's a thrilling film, for sure!
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review, I hope you have a lovely day! If you would like to check out my Official Facebook page where you can see sneak previous and more film insights then please consider checking out the link below!
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