'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' A Review

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a family-adventure comedy-drama about a young deliquent boy Ricky(Julian Dennison) who's taken into foster care by Bella(Rima Te Wiata) and her husband Hec(Sam Neill). Due to an unforeseen circumstance Ricky runs away into the bush, Hec follows, and the two continue traveling in the wilderness.

Neill and Dennison have incredible chemistry- combative and tender, funny and heartwarming. They travel through genre and tone effortlessly The film is not for kids or a comedy or a drama or an action film it is all of those. Genre melding seems to be more and more the norm with sometimes varied results, Hunt for the Wilderpeople delivers something wholly cohesive and decisively satisfying. Neill gives one of his best and meatiest performances since Event Horizon and Dennison explodes with the perfect combination of two thirds charm one third teenage petulance. The supporting cast is wonderful with great turns from Te Wiata as the empathetic down-to-earth foster mom, Rachel House as Paula the obsessive and dour social worker, and writer/director Taika Waititi as the rather confused minister to name a few.

The soundtrack is incredible and the Wes Anderson-esk meticulous production design complements the natural scenic beauty of the New Zealand bush. As a follow up to his impressive and hilarious What We Do In The Shadows Waititi delivers a surprisingly emotional, thrilling, and funny film. Ambitious and compelling.

A potent coming-of-age adventure with wry heart.

Don't Miss It.