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The Hunt

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02:10

The Hunt

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• Drama

• 2012
• Thomas Vinterberg
• 110 mins
• 15

Summary

Drama from the director of Festen, starring Mads Mikkelsen. Lucas, a kindergarten teacher, is falsely accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour by one of the children in his care and is abruptly ostracised by the local community. Even those closest to Lucas begin to doubt his innocence, as he becomes trapped in an increasingly nightmarish situation.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Damon Wise

Fans of Scandi TV crime hits The Killing and The Bridge might well take an interest in this drama, but it's not a big-screen equivalent, rather a timely and intelligent reminder of the dangers of public hysteria. The setting is a small Danish town, where kindergarten worker Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) is accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour by one of the children. Other youngsters join in, and soon Lucas is ostracised by the whole community, including best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen), whose little girl is the source of the original charges. It sounds like a thriller, but the film shows early on that Lucas is entirely innocent, and instead creates drama from the ever-escalating nightmare in which he finds himself trapped. The always excellent Mikkelsen gives his best performance yet (he won the best actor prize at Cannes), playing a man who is far from perfect, but never once loses our sympathy. The outcome is genuinely tense, and the whole film offers a worryingly plausible reflection of its time.

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8.3/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• Prime Video
• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameLucasMads MikkelsenTheoThomas Bo LarsenMarcusLasse FogelstromKlaraAnnika WedderkoppNadjaAlexandra RapaportAgnesAnne Louise HassingGretheSusse WoldBruunLars Ranthe

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Crew

rolenameDirectorThomas Vinterberg

Details

Theatrical distributor

Arrow Films

Released on

2012-11-30

Languages

English | Polish | Danish

Guidance

Violence, swearing, a sex scene, brief nudity

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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