The beginning and end of this are considerably more successful than the middle, which is less “stalk ‘n’ slash” than “stalk… and stalk… and stalk some more.” There is a lot of wandering around the woods. But having seen their faces, the men have no intention of letting her get away, and the hunt is on. They end up deep in the forest, where a car accident caused by an animal in the road gives Eve the chance to escape. Which is fine, until his accomplice (O’Brien) gets in the front seat, and drives them off the man’s video camera (and our knowledge of genre tropes) indicates something highly unpleasant is intended. She is rescued from the last-named by another man (Worthalter), and they end up in the back of his car. The heroine is Eve (Debay), a French manager on a construction project, whose life is plagued by unpleasant men of all flavours: her demanding boss, clingy boyfriend, and even a drunk asshole at a bar, who won’t take no for an answer. Give me subtlety over earnestness, any day. It felt as if this got in the way of its own story as much as it enhanced things, however. I’m not sure the same can quite be said of Hunted, which appears to take inspiration from the fairy tale of Red Riding Hood, but casts it against a background of toxic masculinity. Dawn of the Dead, They Live or Get Out, work on their own terms, regardless of whether you agree with (or even notice) the points being made. I don’t mind the concept of social commentary in genre films, but it really needs not to be the primary focus. Star: Lucie Debay, Arieh Worthalter, Ciaran O’Brien, Ryan Brodie
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