The BMD Interview: THE HUNT’s Filmmakers & Cast On Delaying The Inevitable
If you're heading out to the theater this weekend, we recommend checking out The Hunt, the latest genre flick from Blumhouse that—like The Inivisible Man and Get Out before it—weaves social commentary with horror to provocative effect. I recently traveled to Los Angeles for a special screening of the new film, which uses our often toxic political discourse on social media as a jumping off point for a heightened satire that posits an interesting idea: what if a conservative conspiracy theory about liberals hunting "deplorables" for sport became reality? Directed by Craig Zobel and based on a script by Damon Lindelof (long may he reign) and Nick Cuse, The Hunt was originally scheduled to hit theaters last fall. Unfortunately—and somewhat ironically—the film became a point of controversy on social media, thanks in no small part to a certain president.
Delayed indefinitely, it was unclear if or when we might get a chance to see what all the fuss was about, or if there was any reason to fuss in the first place (there wasn't). Thankfully, The Hunt opened today, giving audiences the opportunity to see it for themselves—and admire a hellaciously good performance from Betty Gilpin, previously best known for her similarly outstanding work on GLOW.
Following the screening of The Hunt, I spoke with Gilpin, Lindelof, producer Jason Blum, and co-star Ike Barinholtz about how the delay may have impacted viewers' reception of the film and if Lindelof might collaborate with Watchmen composing duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross again in the near future (spoiler: he's really into the idea):
