Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Viewed on August 8, 2020
Society turns nasty as accusations (and the occasional bullet) fly
As a high school teacher, The Hunt acts more immediately on my senses and absolutely horrifies me in that capacity. Most thriller or horrors prove easy to put to rest because the situations they contain are outlandish: ghouls, goblins, the mystical and the mysterious. What happens, though, when the evils portrayed in a film are distrust and disloyalty, both manufactured by a simple mistake?
That question and its answer are key to The Hunt. Mads Mikkelsen portrays Lucas, a recently divorced man working as an assistant in a small kindergarten class: the kids anticipate his arrival and enjoy the games he plays with them. One girl develops a crush on Lucas and when he appropriately rebuffs her, she tells the directors of the school that Lucas sexually/physically harassed her, repeating language that she had overheard from her older brother who was talking about a porn video he had seen.
News travels quickly in the small town setting, and Lucas becomes a simultaneously wanted and reviled man. How each citizen, all former fast friends to Lucas, acts towards him reveals the complexities of how people feel compelled to protect their own, despite the legal promise of “innocent until proven guilty”
Lucas endures a crucible of physical and emotional violence until he emerges on the other side, firmly believing that he can resume his place among his friends and in the town. Not all of these friends are so forgiving, however, leading to a stunning coda that shows how most human beings exist outside the parameters that the law sets down.
Being accused, especially when the situation involves children, means that a person is guilty, a public verdict that leaves permanent scars.
