![]() ![]() Rape and sexual assault are real horrors, making them distasteful as horror tropes, and even more distasteful when the trope is poorly executed (which happens to be exactly what happens in the story of Hunted). In 2018 alone, the National Sexual Assault Resource Center reported nearly eight hundred thousand victims of some form of sexual assault. The horrors of sexual assault and rape are astounding, largely since it is an issue that faces and affects most people on a personal level. ![]() As a horror fan, I am personally begging the genre to stop relying on rape and kidnap as primary fear tactics - but here we are again, with another rape-murder storyline in Hunted. Horror and thriller fans have been hit over the head by the kidnapping trope a million times. What clearly started out as a twisted take on a fairytale becomes a poorly done and shallow reliance on the fears of rape, and it fails to provide a satisfying and redeeming ending for the protagonist. There are a few jarring and hard-to-watch murder scenes, but in the end, the short 87-minute run time of this movie proves to be too long. Ultimately, Hunted is memorable only because of how disturbing the antagonist is. The movie’s sole terrifying aspect is the reality of sexual assault - a trope that is cheap and not tactful. Hunted ends up being a “could’ve-been-a-nail-biter” viewing experience because of how predictable and boring the hunt of Eve is, and the let-down doesn’t stop there. Eventually, the movie becomes an ongoing hunt of Eve (whose name is so forgettable, I had to look it up again since they mention it once at the start and never again). The movie takes a climactic turn when the French girl meets the big bad wolf character in a night club, and then another climactic turn when he kidnaps her, and then another when she gets free and runs into the woods, and another when he chases after her - you get the point. The storyline is disturbing, and at the beginning, viewers might find something redeemable and alluring about the hook - but don’t be fooled by the mystique. Only in Hunted, the big bad wolf is a deranged, nameless serial-murderer-rapist who maniacally carries around a video camera with archived films of his past victims. Her getup is clearly foreshadowing the horrors she might endure through the film, similar to the hunting of Little Red Riding Hood by the big bad wolf. It fits well with movies like Taken (2008) or The Last House On The Left (1972), except it lacks a redeeming ending for the protagonist and is just a disturbing watch.Īt first, we are introduced to a likable French girl in a bright red coat. The 2021 Belgian-French-Irish movie directed by Vincent Paronnaud is barely a horror movie at all, making it hard to believe that Shudder, a primarily horror streaming platform, would produce it. Relying on the fear tactics of sexual assault is a cheap horror trope, and that is exactly what Hunted does to attempt to scare audiences. The trigger word “rape” is used throughout this review so please stop here if that is triggering for you. ![]() Trigger warning: This article includes references to sexual assault, rape, and violence. The (Almost) Redeeming Ending Of Hunted. ![]()
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