The Hunt Review

Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt is his best film since Festen, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 14 years ago. The Danish director proves that he’s still got it with this unsettling psychological drama about one child’s lie that threatens to destroy an innocent man’s life.

Screenwriters Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm collaborated to create an extremely powerful, frustrating, and riveting script that keeps the audience guessing from beginning to end. The fundamental theme of the film is about how easily the opinions of others can sway your own and how the power of group mentality can cause community and even family to turn on each other. Mads Mikkelsen plays Lucas, a teacher who is temporarily working as a Kindergarten assistant. He lives in a close-knit community and has many good friends with whom he partakes in annual deer hunts and many rowdy gatherings. Things are looking up for Lucas after his recent divorce: he begins a new relationship with a coworker (Alexandra Rapaport) and his teenage son Marcus (Lasse Fogelstron) can finally come live with him after an exhausting battle with his ex for custody.

However, Lucas’s good fortune is quickly shattered when his best friend’s young daughter develops an innocent crush on him. When she displays her affection for him with a kiss on the lips during playtime at school, Lucas kindly draws the line and unintentionally hurts her feelings. Combining her recent brief exposure to pornographic material by her immature adolescent brother and her distain for her feelings of rejection, Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) offhandedly makes up a story about how Lucas “showed her his Willy,” to the Kindergarten supervisor. Although it is extremely difficult for her to believe that Lucas could do such a thing, the supervisor can’t fathom that a child would make something like that up and feels she has no choice but to report the incident to Klara’s parents and the authorities. Lucas is completely shocked by the accusation and despite his track record as an upstanding and well-loved family man, all of his once-loyal friends and co-workers quickly turn on him. As more and more children are “encouraged” to come forward, their imaginations run wild, illustrating Lucas as a sick, pedophilic monster, and he is completely exiled before getting the chance to defend himself. Only his son and a few close friends stand by him during the most horrific time in his life. The film embodies the frightening reality of how lies and gossip can quickly appear to be fact and the disturbing strength of the power of suggestion upon young minds.  

Vinterberg does a brilliant job depicting Lucas’s purity and innocence. In the beginning of the film, we see Lucas interacting with the children and it is apparent that he truly loves his job and the children. His continued kindness to Klara, even after her lie begins destroying his life, shows just how good of a man he is. This obvious show of character makes the later chain of events that much more heart wrenching and causes the audience to develop a deep empathy for his detrimental, unfair circumstances. It is frustrating that Lucas doesn’t get more upset or try harder to defend himself in his impossible situation, but his feelings of intense shock and pain are clear. Instead of bursting out in rage, he calmly tries to deal with the situation, making his innocence all the more well-known to the audience throughout the film, and eventually, to his friends.

Vinterberg executes his vision perfectly but it is very much a character-driven film. Mikkelsen’s performance is completely convincing and frighteningly realistic. His portrayal of Lucas is so devastatingly raw that it makes you want to jump through the screen and defend him against the ruthless townspeople. His incredible performance was recognized at the Cannes Film Festival, where he won the Best Actor Award. The entire cast is spot on in their performances, never missing a beat in creating the allusion of a story that is chillingly believable.

Wedderkopp perfectly portrays Klara’s young innocence and confusion throughout the film. It is difficult not to be angry with her but Wedderkopp’s performance forces the audience to remember that she is merely a child, unaware of the meaning and the consequences behind her lie. She truly cares for Lucas and doesn’t understand why everyone is so mad at him. Adding to the frustration, she realizes what she did was wrong and tries to tell her mother that she made the whole thing up. But her mother dismisses her confession and convinces Klara that it did happen and that her mind is trying to forget it, confusing the little girl even more.

The movie is filled with intense scenes and gripping moments. The most memorable are the heart-breaking interaction in the supermarket and at the poignant Christmas Eve Church service where Lucas’s best friend finally comes to the realization that his daughter made the accusations up. When it seems as though Lucas’s innocence has been proven and his life is back on track, the final scene makes it apparent that the child’s lie will haunt him forever. While hunting, he barely dodges a bullet by an anonymous hunter, leaving us wondering whether or not the shot was intentional, much like the accusations made by Klara and the rest of the town.  Overall, The Hunt masterfully shows how easy it is to go with crowd instead of standing up for the truth, and the devastating consequences that can result from doing so.

Cast & Credits:

Mads Mikkelsen

Thomas Bo Larsen

Annika Wedderkopp

Lasse Fogelstrom

Film i Vast and Zentropa Entertainment present a film directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Written by Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg. Total running time: 111 min.