There are plenty of films out there where a woman must fight for her life. However, Shudder’s latest addition, Hunted attempts to become something different from the usual revenge type of horror. Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and co-written by Léa Pernollet, Hunted plays with the lines between realism and fantasy.
The film opens with a story from a woman to her young son about how “the company of wolves is better than that of men.” The prologue sets the uneasy tempo that permeates throughout the film. At its base Hunted is about a woman, Eve (Lucie Debay), who is kidnapped and is running for her life through the woods. But her would be captors are hot on her trail and it becomes clear escaping was just the start of her troubles.
Paronnaud and co-writer Léa Pernollet take their story in a different direction than most survival stories. While they definitely put the grittiness of reality into Eve’s situation, they’ve also folded in fables with different whimsical elements. Not just with the imagery, even though Eve dons a red hooded coat most of the time. But also with with story elements such as “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and other types of fables.
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After a bad day at work and in love, Eve (Lucie Debay), decides to go grab a drink at a local pub. While at the pub a local begins harassing her until a man comes to her rescue. The man (Arieh Worthalter) seems to be what Eve is looking for, someone to relieve a little stress with. After dancing, and drinking, they eventually end up in the man’s car. It isn’t until after the man’s friend (Ciaran O’Brien) hops into the driver seat, that Eve realizes she’s in trouble.
The pair of men put Eve into the trunk and continue to drive through the woods to their destination. As they drive we see that even though they’ve done this before, the man’s friend is having second thoughts. We also see that the psychos are beginning to devolve. There is a very odd scene that leads to a car accident. Eve is finally able to escape the trunk and scurry into the woods. Now that Eve is on the run, viewers spend some time with her would be captors, where Worthlter fully dives into his demented character. Even though, some of the craziness of his character takes viewers out of the movie.
While all the performances and aesthetic are strong attributes to the film, at times the story began to pull me out of the tension. It almost felt like two different films. On one hand we have Eve who is navigating the woods alone and afraid. On the other, we have two chaotic “hunters” that seem to have their own issues on top of recapturing Eve. All in all, Hunter gives you a gritty whimsical tale that sometimes separates you from its own story.
As Hunted winds down to the finale, we see Eve is now out for revenge. However, Paronnaud crafts a kind of dreamy grittiness that ultimately culminates into the kind of ending we all need in these films. In the end Hunted can’t decide if it’s an arthouse version of Little Red Riding Hood or a gritty survival tale. 2.5/5
You can find Hunted now streaming only on Shudder. Be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all things horror.
