Summary
You might know the old tale that inspired it, but Hunted has plenty of new perspectives to offer. Memorable performances and excellent use of a forest setting make this European thriller worth a watch.
Hunted surprised me. I was led to expect a “modern and radical take on the Little Red Riding Hood fable” and an “exhilarating, transcendent, and frequently brutal survival tale”, and the film had a lot to prove in both respects. I’ve seen plenty of fairy tale based films, plenty of films with a wolf motif, and more than enough about a woman’s survival, especially during the last year. But I’m pleased to say that director Vincent Paronnaud (who also wrote the screenplay, along with Léa Pernollet) delivered such an original tale with enough little twists that it had me mentally sitting up straight to pay attention very soon after it started, shrugging off that feeling of “yet another”.
The story of Hunted centers on Eve (Lucie Debay) who meets her own Big Bad Wolf – credited as The Handsome Guy (Arieh Worthalter) – who doesn’t appear as Bad until after he has her in his clutches. There is an atmospheric little prologue that introduces this Little Red Riding Hood theme, though there are many respects in which this story is different; and hence, the surprises work. The Handsome Guy has an Accomplice (Ciaran O’Brien), who is keen to have a play with the catch, but nervous and weak in comparison. The key difference is that there is no woodsman to rescue Eve: about a half of the film follows her efforts to escape capture and survive under her own resources; and as it progresses, to fight back too.
What I have described above about Eve’s arc reminds me somewhat of Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge (though I didn’t notice that similarity when watching). Debay plays Eve with a similarly determined resilience to Matilda Lutz’s Jen, and the performance will be just as memorable. She and Worthalter impressed me equally with their energy and ferocity at times. The Accomplice didn’t have much of a character, unfortunately, and appeared to be there – like a Doctor Who assistant – for someone that the Big Bad could talk to about his plans. There were other minor characters who both Hunted and Hunter met along the way, including a survivalist and her grandson, a paintballing team, and a couple visiting a house for sale. These were the only scenes that spoiled the tension a little, making it a little more laughable with each one: it was as though the confrontation between the pair would carry on and on regardless of who became caught up in it.
Where it really worked though (as well as in the acting) was in Hunted’s setting. A Belgian/French film (though the dialogue is largely in English), the majority of it took place deep in a lush European forest. As in Av: The Hunt and Alone, the environment was fully used for both the benefit of the sharp cinematography and the plot. But more than that, too: both the original fairy tale and Revenge were very gender-based cautionary tales, but Hunted was more about man versus nature than man versus woman. Eve found her strength when she embraced that environment (in contrast to her struggle to maintain any authority in her very urban job at the start of the film), and even encountered animal allies, a la Snow White.
Overall, Hunted is exciting as well as interesting and a visual pleasure throughout. The pacing, the believable strain the characters express, the vastness of the forest all adds up to a quality addition to the survival thriller subgenre, despite a couple of over-the-top moments towards the end. There is one personal niggle that the film satisfied too: countless horror films I’ve seen have shown woods as spooky or dangerous, and I enjoyed this rare exception in which the forest represented strength and sanctuary. Hunt it down on Shudder from 14 January.
