Click here!

The Hunter


The critical consensus

Carefully paced, mute and primal, this is a quietly affecting cinematic gem.

****(*)James P Campbell, The Skinny, 23/10/2010

A suspenseful and daring drama, but it isn't perfectly executed.

***(*)(*)David Parkinson, Empire Online, 25/10/2010

Rafi Pitts' sententious, hollow melodrama.

**(*)(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 26/10/2010

The story dulls into a cat-and-mouse pursuit narrative, with Pitts’s own inexpressive performance one weakness among many.

**(*)(*)(*)Nigel Andrews, Financial Times, 27/10/2010

With his attention divided, and not enough time spent getting to know the Alavi, it’s hard to feel that involved when the high drama begins.

***(*)(*)Alison Rowat, The Herald, 28/10/2010

It’s mostly a film that wastes an awful lot of shoe leather and tyre rubber showing Ali walking and driving around in lieu of a meaningful story that’s maybe allegorical and maybe just boring.

Paul Greenwood, Evening Times, 28/10/2010

The Hunter is an experience which keeps the viewer disorientated, off balance, unsure how to contextualise anything that appears on screen, and I found myself intent on knowing what would happen next, right up to the very last moment.

***(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 28/10/2010

After a sudden flurry of action the final section turns into a quasi-chamber piece about crime and punishment, at odds with the slow-burn study of personal anguish that occupies its first hour.

***(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 29/10/2010

Pitts neatly paints his home country as a grim dystopia lorded over by brutal forces. Yet however brave the filmmakers, you can practically hear the gears grinding as the tone shifts about halfway through.

***(*)(*)Daily Record, 29/10/2010

Superbly lit and composed, the film is pared to the bone, leaving the viewer to make his own map of this bleak journey through no man's land into anomie territory.

Philip French, The Observer, 31/10/2010

The distance at which both Pitts the film-maker and Pitts the actor seem intent on keeping us works against the film by not letting anyone in – save, perhaps, audiences versed in Iranian politics.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 30/10/2010

Luckily, Pitts (the director) conjures moments of alluring bleakness evocative of Melville, including the best fog-based car chase you’ll see all year.

***(*)(*)Matt Glasby, 26/10/2010

It’s a mysterious and puzzling work, capturing in style and substance the confusion of the character upon whom it focuses.

****(*)Tony McKibbin, The List, 02/11/2010

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

Comments: 0 (Add)

To post a comment, you need to sign in or register. Forgotten password? Click here.

Find a show


Search the site


Find us on …

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on YouTube

Click here!