Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

shanayneigh This film was outstanding. It's made by Thomas Vinterberg, the same director who also made Festen (1998), one of my favorite films of all time. Like Festen, The Hunt hits you like a kick straight to the gut. Mads Mikkelsen, like many others have pointed out, is outstanding. But to me the greatest performance comes from Annika Wedderkopp who plays the little girl Klara. Not one single beat is false. It's impossible to even tell she's acting, something which is a problem with a lot of child actors. This is the best child actor I have seen since the Japanese movie Nobody Knows (2004). It would be interesting to hear Vinterberg discuss how he was able to such an outstanding performance from a child that couldn't have been much older than 5-6 years when this movie was made. The Hunt echoes famous child abuse cases like the McMartins and Wee Care, and the amazing documentary Capturing the Friedmans (2002) also comes to mind. I have also read the court documents of other cases with similar characteristics, and the the child psychologist's interview with the little girl Klara is an amazingly spot on illustration of where these types of cases generally start to go haywire. Everyone means well, but soon enough start to put words into the child's mouth or interpret everything that the child says according to predetermined schemata. The interview sequence is fantastic, not at least thanks to Klara's immaculate performance. I watched The Hunt in 2018 in the wake of the #metoo mass hysteria, and although it might have been relevant when it was released in 2012, it's no less relevant now. On the contrary. It shows how easy it is for a man's life to be completely ruined, to lose everything due to accusations leveled at him. Because who wants to be the one to not get on the bandwagon and stand up for the supposed child molester or rapist in the name of rule of law and say "Hold on a minute, do we actually know what the truth is here before we condemn someone of an inexcusable crime"? The ending is perfect. It would have been very easy to Hollywood the ending, but luckily Vinterberg refrains from doing so. The very last sequence can be interpreted either literally or metaphorically. It's up to you. I have my own ideas, but I won't spoil anything. What an outstanding movie.

Jackson Booth-Millard I spotted this Danish film because of the star of Casino Royale, then I read what it was about, it definitely sounded like a worthwhile watch. Basically Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) is a well-liked kindergarten teacher in a close-knit Danish community, his hobby is going deer hunting (hence the title). He is divorced and struggles to maintain a relationship with his teenage son, Marcus (Lasse Fogelstrøm), who eventually comes to live with him, and his co-worker Nadja (Alexandra Rapaport) is making advances towards him, eventually becoming his girlfriend. Seven-year-old Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) is one of Lucas' students, she is the daughter of his best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen). She has a crush on Lucas and one day puts a heart-shaped ornament into his coat pocket, she then gives Lucas a kiss on the lips, but he rebuffs it, this hurts her feelings. In anger, drawing on a memory of a pornographic picture her older brother showed her, she makes a comment to the kindergarten director. Klara has a run-away imagination and concocts a lie about her teacher, saying that he indecently exposed himself to her, the directors asks leading questions, but the little girl's answers are unclear. The adults have a meeting to discuss Lucas, the director convinces them of this story of sexual abuse, dismissing Klara's later contradictions as denial, this story soon sweeps across the community. Before Lucas has even been able to understand what is happening, or defend himself, he is shunned by the community as a paedophile and sexual predator, and quickly becomes an outcast of the town. His friendship with Theo and his relationship with Nadja are destroyed, and his son Marcus is publicly ostracised. The teachers ask other kindergarten students leading questions, who also say they have been abused, claiming they have been in Lucas' basement, but this supports his innocence, as he has no basement. Lucas is arrested, but released without charge, but the community are still suspicious of him, and soon the ostracism turns into violence. Lucas' dog Fanny is killed, and a large stone is thrown through his kitchen window, and when he goes grocery shopping, he is attacked by store employees. On Christmas Eve, Lucas confronts Theo during a public church service, while the children are carol singing, but this also turns into a violent exchange. Theo overhears Klara apologising to Lucas for the consequences she has caused, he realises he is innocent, he visits him, bringing food and alcohol, to make a peace offering. A year later, tensions in the community have calmed down, Lucas and Nadja are in a relationship again, and Marcus has been accepted into the local hunting society as an adult. During a hunting expedition, an unseen person apparently shoots at Lucas and misses him, he is unable to see who it is in the sunlight, the attacker, real or metaphorical, disappear, so Lucas is still fearful of his reputation. Also starring Susse Wold as Grethe, Anne Louise Hassing as Agnes, Lars Ranthe as Bruun and Sebastian Bull Sarning as Torsten. Mikkelsen gives an excellent performance as the completely innocent teacher who has been plunged into a nightmare of mass hysteria, a man not without faults, but he never loses our sympathy, it really is a reminder how misinformation, all from one innocent little lie, can snowball into something a massive misunderstanding with severe consequences, a most plausible and tense drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film not in the English Language, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Very good!

empire331 Another european film that's different in so many ways than the average today's movies. It's about humanity, about friendship, alienation and loneliness. Unfortunately, for me the whole cast was unknown, besides the leading role, but they all did a very good job, especially little Klara and her father. The story has a natural flow adding tension with every scene until the climax at the very end. Still, the plot is simple but raises so many questions to each one of us. How would I react to such accusation? How would I react being rejected from the society for a stupid reason and for a crime I did not do? Definitely a very good movie dealing with a sensitive subject!

Pjtaylor-96-138044 'The Hunt (2012)' tackles some heavy themes, telling the tale of a blameless man who's life is ruined by a false accusation of sexual abuse against a child, but it does so with finesse and always keeps its focus in the right places, never shying away from the tough subject matter but also never focusing too readily upon it. Of course, it helps that we as the audience know that no such act was ever committed, allowing for an almost heartbreaking tale of neighbour turning on neighbour and our somewhat inactive yet extremely empathetic protagonist trying to keep his life from spiralling totally out of control. The lead is deftly portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen in a rare, but well-fitting, non-villainous role. The piece is engaging, powerful stuff. 8/10