Our take
It comes as no surprise that former Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen won Best Actor in Cannes for delivering on this challenging role. In this merciless thriller by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, the ice-eyed actor plays Lucas, an out-of-luck high school teacher struggling to start a new life. After a bitter divorce, he returns to the close-knit community he grew up in to work as a kindergarten teacher.
A few weeks before Christmas, a child from his class, who has an innocent crush on the popular teacher, hints to a colleague that he had exposed himself to her. The young girl’s intimation galvanizes the small hunter’s town into a witch-hunt that leaves Lucas’ life hanging from a string. Trapped in the lies, the more he fights back, the more irrational the mob becomes. In all its brutal honesty, The Hunt is one of those rare thrillers that will haunt you for days. Extraordinary and thought-provoking!
What it won
Other
1 nom
The story
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Elsewhere
"Mikkelsen, one of his country's finest actors, in collaboration with Thomas Vinterberg, one of its finest directors, delivers what may be his strongest performance yet."
— Laura Kern
"The film continually highlights how easily the seemingly civilised, rational inhabitants of the small town lose their moral bearings - and how irrational their behaviour is."
— Geoffrey Macnab
The details
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
This is a really good movie pointing out the harsh realities of life, How easily a friend can turn into a foe.
Indeed a thought-provoking film and to be honest is hard to go through.
A frustrating and disturbing film, but oh so good. It was more troubling to me than a horror/thriller. Not many actors can do what Mads Mikkelsen did here, going through different states of denial and defiance. Uneblievable film.
This movie is an exploration of collective paranoia that can strike anyone without notice. Intense, moving, unjust, but so interesting.
Excellent movie, the power of rumors and prejudice.
Excellent movie which portrays how stupid society can be and how quick stupid people can jump to conclusions. You could argue that when it comes to an issue that involves themselves, a calculative person can be stupid too, as pseudo emotions cloud them. Sometimes you can’t be sure and you’re probably wrong by jumping the bandwagon.
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