Review: ‘Hunter Hunter’ yanks the rug right from under you

There’s a soft, piercing crackle running through Hunter Hunter‘s blood. The 90-minute feature embraces the struggles of living in the wild, always at the mercy of the elements and various, long-toothed wildlife, and the inevibility that human beings are the worst monsters of all. Writer-director Shawn Linden (Nobody) sets up his story pieces around a man named Joseph Mersault (Devon Sawa) and his deep distrust of humanity, taken to such extremes that he’s built his entire life out in the Manitoba wilderness.

His wife Anne (Camille Sullivan, Normal) expresses reservations this way of life might be depriving their daughter Renée (Summer H. Howell, Curse of Chucky) of proper schooling and companionship with people her own age. Joseph’s past remains largely shrouded in mystery, and all we really learn is he never finished high school. It’s quickly evident Renée is not only ready and willing to follow in her father’s footsteps but rather content with the only life she’s ever known. Joseph dedicates much of his time to teaching her the ways of hunting and survival ⏤ from techniques in setting traps and how to recognize and track animal scents to skinning their game to make pelts for trading. It’s a humble existence, and Joseph takes great pride in his work.

Hunter Hunter unwraps its story methodically, reading as a familial drama about obligation and generational trauma. Renée might know little of the outside world, but her father’s fear informs her way of thinking and approach to everyday life. Joseph’s teachings have left an indelible scar on her life, seemingly at odds with the ever-expanding fissure between her parents’ contrasting beliefs. When a ravenous wolf returns, snatching up their food supplies, tensions begin to futher splinter apart. Joseph’s bloodthirsty determination to catch the wiley beast once and for all might just be the final tipping point.

While Joseph hikes into the woods for a days-long hunt, leaving his family behind, Anne discovers a man named Lou (Nick Stahl, Terminator 3, The Man Without a Face) injured and bloody outside their front door. Always one to think with her heart, playing against Joseph’s loathing of mankind, she drags his near-lifeless body into their secluded cabin. She nurses him back to health and soon learns he is a photographer who has lost his way in the expanses of forest.

Here is where Linden subverts every expectation. What you think will happen next is totally discarded for some right-hook punches, and it never feels shoehorned or overly complicated. In fact, Hunter Hunter works so well because of the final act; if you find yourself not quite connecting with the film, hold out for the last 20 minutes. You won’t see it coming, and you’ll never be able to forget it.

Hunter Hunter embodies the best of independent filmmaking. Across the board, the tight-knit cast hold their own ⏤ from Sawa’s stern yet empathatic performance to Howell’s magnetic, nuanced portrayal of a young girl making sense of a changing world. 2020 is quickly coming to a close, and Linden is making a last bid for one of the year’s most electric entries.

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