This one is not an easy watch, and at times comes a bit too close to comfort.
Mads Mikkelsen plays Lucas, a man living in a small Scandinavian town where not much happens. Lucas is a teacher, a respecting member of the community, and generally a stand-up guy. One day, a little girl with a crush on him makes a little accusation without understanding its repercussions. Lucas’s life is shattered.
To say Lucas is innocent doesn’t quite qualify as a spoiler. The film isn’t quite a thriller that tries to keep you guessing – rather, it is about the struggles of an innocent man when faced with the wrath of a lynch mob.
The film poses a difficult question – when a little girl makes the accusation that a grown man has molested her, who are we to believe? In the absence of adequate evidence, it tends to boil down to our gut reaction about certain types of crimes. In present-day Scandinavian society, there is little tolerance for pedophiles, and that is a good thing. But don’t we have the responsibility to get the facts straight before we rush to destroy someone’s life? Could it be that the little girl imagined things that didn’t really happen, or is it automatically “victim-blaming” to even consider such a possibility?
Children need to be protected, and real predators are indeed out there. But The Hunt cautions us against the consequences of getting the wrong guy. Just because someone looks like Hannibal Lecter doesn’t mean he’s not the victim.