The Hunt 2020 • Limited & Essential
When it finally emerged in March 2020, it was under a new marketing campaign that dared viewers to decide who the "bad guys" really were. Here is the secret that the controversy missed: The Hunt 2020 is not a liberal film bashing conservatives. It is a nihilistic satire that eviscerates everyone equally.
But now, years removed from the noise, we can finally ask: Was The Hunt actually dangerous propaganda, or was it a razor-sharp, bipartisan satire that went over everyone’s head? Directed by Craig Zobel and written by Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof, The Hunt is a loose modernization of Richard Connell’s classic short story "The Most Dangerous Game." The premise is simple: A group of "deplorables" (working-class, conservative-leaning average Joes) wake up in a mysterious, wooded clearing. They are gagged, disoriented, and armed with nothing but a wooden crate of meager weapons. They quickly learn they are being hunted for sport by a group of elite "liberal" villains known as "Manorgate." The Hunt 2020
However, the film’s protagonist is not a corporate CEO or a politician. It is Crystal (Betty Gilpin), a gravely-voiced, resourceful former soldier who has zero interest in politics. Crystal is a force of nature—confused by the dialectics of her attackers but flawless in her tactics of medieval combat and firearm use. She doesn’t care why she is being hunted; she only cares about surviving the night. To understand The Hunt 2020 , you must understand the summer of 2019. In August 2019, mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton convulsed the United States. In the immediate aftermath, a conservative media outlet published the film’s script summary and claimed the film portrayed Trump supporters being slaughtered for fun. When it finally emerged in March 2020, it
★★★★☆ (4/5) Watch on: Peacock, Amazon Prime, Apple TV (as of 2025) Keywords used naturally: The Hunt 2020, The Hunt movie review, The Hunt controversy, Betty Gilpin, The Hunt satire. But now, years removed from the noise, we
The film’s message is bleak, but it ends on a note of dark hope. After killing Athena, Crystal sits alone on a private jet, sipping champagne. She has won. But she has nowhere to go. She cannot go back to the "deplorables" because they are dead. She cannot join the "elites" because she hates them. She is utterly, terrifyingly alone.
By the time Crystal confronts Athena in the film’s finale—inside a lavish mansion decorated with fine art—Athena admits the entire hunt started because of a viral misunderstanding. A private group chat joke was misconstrued, and people died. The cause of all the bloodshed? A texting error . If the plot is the engine, Betty Gilpin is the nitro fuel. As Crystal, Gilpin delivers one of the most ferocious, physical, and witty performances of the century. With her flannel shirt, deadpan stare, and the ability to snap a neck with her thighs, she is the action hero we didn’t know we needed.
Her slow-motion realization that the "glass menagerie" of elites are actually fragile is the film’s thesis. In one iconic scene, she examines the pristine home of her enemies, looks at a $30,000 abstract painting, and deadpans: "This is a dumb picture of a horse." It is a gut-laugh that perfectly encapsulates the class war at the film’s core. Make no mistake: The Hunt 2020 is a brutal R-rated horror-action hybrid. The violence is graphic and inventive. We see impalements, explosions, throat-slittings, and a bathroom fight sequence that rivals Mission: Impossible for sheer tension.