3 Short (Or Not) Paragraphs: The Hunt

2020, Craig Zobel (Z for Zachariah) -- download

Decided to watch this one, even if its been four years since Kent piqued my interest. Trump's first term ended just a week after Kent posted it. Trump's second term started about six months ago. In a current world where he (Trump, not Kent) constantly spawns conspiracies to fit the world into his desired view point, I was curious as to movie that pissed him (Trump, not Kent) off so much.

OK, there have been plenty of "human beings are the prey" movies, so the premise is not shocking. Its a Blumhouse production, which generally means its coming with at least a little bit of side-eye and not taking itself too seriously (except when they do, and want you to Be Afraid) but this spin on the premise is worthy a little chuckle, no matter which end of the North American political spectrum you are. Essentially, the movie begins with a bunch of hillbillies waking up in a field, after a brief intro where a bunch of very rich assholes have to deal with one of said hillbillies waking up early on their plane.

OK, not all hillbillies, but quickly it becomes apparent they are of the Right Wing American persuasion (it's a lifestyle choice, they are not born that way) especially after they knock off a few of the recognizable faces with long distance gun shots or a minefield. But calm, collected Crystal survives and walks off on her own. 

A few others escape and end up at a roadside gas bar, the kind the kids usually stop at on the way to a sex fueled weekend by the lake. One eats a donut and dies, another is shot by the owners, the last is gassed. Then Crystal (Betty Gilpin, Mrs. Davis) shows up and discerns pretty quickly, the whole thing is a ruse, a deadly trap. She also has figured out she is nowhere near Arkansas, which is where the gas bar was pretending to be, but somewhere in Eastern Europe. 

That was an odd turn for the movie, and I was hoping it would get odder from there. But, also like most Blumhouse, they stretch a bit out of the average thriller-horror comfort zones but not too far. Still, its an enjoyable romp. The "reveal" is that the rich assholes are Extreme Left who were cancelled because they joked about doing a redneck hunt, each of them removed as heads of their respective corporations. So, they decided they might as well do a redneck hunt, but specified against each of the conspiracy minded, yell about it on the Internet types that accused them all of the hunt. This is a spin on PizzaGate idea of the Democrats running a pedophilia ring, and the QAnon nuts running wild with it. 

The fun thing is that they got the wrong Crystal. Sure, she's from Mississippi and sounds the part, but this Crystal is a well-educated, well (militarily) trained woman down on her luck, and maybe a wee bit unhinged in her own right. It is kind of funny that the exact reason Trump went bonkers on the movie kind of matches up on how the Right misconstrued what these Rich Assholes were doing in the first place. I think that was intentional, as all press is good press? Alas, it didn't work out and this movie kind of disappeared into the ether.

Even so, we get such a wonderful performance from Betty Gilpin. Sometimes the smallest of characterizations can just add so much to a role. Crystal knows she's a bit off, and is not at all bothered by the idea of killing whichever Rich Asshole stands up in front of her. She's got some rage in her, which she acknowledges with head nods and whistles, and they just gave her a reason to give into it, much to our delight.