The Hunt (2012 film)

The Hunt () is a 2012 Danish drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen. The story is set in a small Danish village around Christmas, and follows a man who becomes the target of mass hysteria after being wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child in his kindergarten class.
The film was screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and competed at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival where Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award for his role. It also won the 2013 Nordic Council Film Prize. The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, making the final nomination. It was nominated in the same category at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards.
Plot.
Lucas is a member of a close-knit Danish Hunting community and works at a local kindergarten. Divorced, he struggles to maintain a relationship with his teenage son, who lives with his ex-wife, but enjoys wholesome interaction with the children at the kindergarten. His coworker Nadja makes advances towards him and eventually moves in as his girlfriend.
One of the kindergarten pupils is Klara, a pupil especially close to Lucas due to her being the daughter of Lucas' best friend Theo. Over time, she develops an innocent crush on Lucas, however when he rebuffs her and tries to lecture her she becomes dejected. Drawing on memory of a pornographic picture she witnessed her brother looking at, she makes comments that lead the kindergarten director to believe Lucas indecently exposed himself to her. When interviewed with leading questions, Klara gives unclear testimony against Lucas. The adults in the community believe the director's story of abuse, dismissing Klara's later contradictions as denial.
Lucas is shunned by the community as a pedophile sexual predator. His friendship with Theo is destroyed, the pressure causes him to break up with Nadja, and his son is publicly ostracised after coming to live with him. The kindergarten staff ask leading questions of other children at the kindergarten, who also say they were abused. A group of Lucas's friends who believe he is innocent allow him and his son to move in with them until the court date. On the day, the children's accounts mention details of Lucas's basement, which supports Lucas's innocence, as his house has no basement. After a hearing, he is released without charge.
The community is still suspicious of Lucas, however, and the ostracism turns to violence. His dog, Fanny, is killed, a stone is thrown through his window, and he is beaten by grocery store employees when he tries to buy food, which prompts him to smash one of the employee’s nose as retribution. On Christmas Eve, Lucas confronts Theo during a public church service and breaks down in front of the community. Later, when Theo goes to put Klara to bed, she mistakes him for Lucas and apologises as she drifts off to sleep, having realised the extent of her lies. Theo's doubts about Lucas' innocence are resolved, and he visits him on Christmas Day with food and alcohol where the two men begin to repair their friendship.
A year later, tensions in the community have lessened. Lucas and Nadja are in a relationship again, and Lucas's son is accepted into the local hunting society as an adult. On a hunting expedition to commemorate the event, an unseen person shoots at Lucas and misses him. Blinded by the setting sun, Lucas is unable to identify his attacker, who reloads but flees.
Production.
The film was produced by Zentropa for 20 million Danish kroner. It received co-production support from Sweden's Film i Väst and Zentropa International Sweden. Further support came from the Danish Film Institute, DR, Eurimages, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Swedish Film Institute, Sveriges Television and the MEDIA Programme.
Reception.
Box office.
"The Hunt" premiered on 20 May 2012 at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, as the first Danish-language film in the main competition since 1998. Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award at Cannes. Given its estimated $3.8 million budget, the film was a financial success; in total, it earned more than $16 million including $7.9 million in Denmark. In the United States, it was shown in 47 theaters and earned $613,308.
Critical response.
The film received universal acclaim. It has an approval rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 7.82/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Anchored by Mads Mikkelsen's sympathetic performance, "The Hunt" asks difficult questions with the courage to pursue answers head on." The film also has a score of 77 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".
Home media.
Nordisk Film released it in Denmark on 10 January 2013. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 7 May 2013.