Hunted: Movie Review

Simple yet visceral, "Hunted" may not break any molds with its very straightforward and focused approach. But what it provides is one thrilling, exhilarating, and effective experience from point a to point b.

Eve (Lucie Debay), stressed with her work, decides to go to a bar to unwind. At the bar, she encounters a man (Arieh Worthalter) who is accompanying his grieving brother (Ciaran O'Brien). The man and Eve hit it off well that it makes Eve comfortable to be with him. As the encounter turns flirtatious, the man suddenly shifts in tone and reveals his true nature in befriending Eve. Forced to flee as the two men pursue her relentlessly, Eve is pushed to her extremes. Can she escape, survive and find her way out of danger?

In terms of its narrative, there's nothing special when it comes to "Hunted". For us, it would be its biggest flaw as it takes a hyper-focused approach on its survival aspect so much so that we rarely get to know the characters within its story. There's literally no back story on Eve or even her pursuers. This is a huge shame as we really wanted to understand Eve's personal issues (as the film slightly hints at something critical at the very beginning of the film) and the scary background of our antagonist especially in the context of his psychopathic tendencies and innate violence. Aside from its limited character development, the film was a highly-entertaining watch from start to finish. The antagonist was one of the most disturbing, deranged, and scary characters we have encountered recently which was amazingly brought to life by actor Arieh Worthalter. The character wasn't all violence requiring shifts on his tones and demeanor which Worthalter did flawlessly. One scene he is so charismatic then on the next one he could be so sadistic. In fact, he was the highlight in the whole film for us. For fans of gore, the film won't disappoint as it did not hold back at all. It will be a bloody mess and a bloody disgusting great time once the "hunt" starts.

Rating: 3 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:
- amazing performance from Arieh Worthalter as the antagonist
- the unrelenting fire will make you squirm and scream in terror and delight

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- we wished there was more backstory to our characters especially Eve and her captors.