413. The Hunt (2012)

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Running Time: 115 mins

The Hunt (Jagten) is a Danish film about a teacher whose life is sent into downturn when he becomes the victim of mass hysteria in his town, after a little girl tells a little lie about him.

Right, just to clarify: I don’t like this film. AT ALL. It is one of the most horrible and sickening stories I’ve ever seen, and it is so constantly frustrating that it really got under my skin while watching it.

This film barely has any point at which you can feel any sort of entertainment. In other harrowing stories, there is a degree of thrill or excitement, but in this relatively slow-paced tale, it is always depressing and upsetting to watch.

However, although I may hate this film, it is made fantastically well. The fact that the story and the characters manage to get under your skin so easily shows how well written the film is, and the use of the slow pacing to feed all sorts of different ideas into your head throughout, frustrating you even more is another demonstration of the cinematic brilliance of this film.

There were also some stunning performances. The main character, played by Mads Mikkelsen shows the depression and despondency of the teacher after being victimised by his friends so convincingly, and the actor playing his son, was also a fantastic addition, being the voice of reason (and the voice of the viewer) as soon as he appeared, giving the film a great balance.

The story shows very well what the awful effects of this sort of situation can be, and because of that, it must be applauded, but it is one of the most horrific and upsetting demonstrations of peoples’ potential hatred and impulsivity, that does not bring any entertainment whatsoever, so in balancing that, I’ll give this a 7.9.

(I do recommend this film, but you have been warned of how sad and irritated you will feel when watching it.)