Hunter is a thriller about a young homeless man who grapples with the truth about the shadowy figures that killed his mother and sister.
The limitations of independent filmmaking often lead directors to make some innovative choices when telling their stories, and if there is anything to be said of David Tarleton‘s curious thriller Hunter, it’s his great use of the city it’s set in and the authenticity of world these characters live in. The movie itself however is a distorted experience that is propped up with some interesting ideas about truth and reality but is layered in shades of greys we’ve seen before.
Hunter (Jason Kellerman) was once a promising cage fighter, typically taking a beating for whatever sins wash over him, yet winning his way to some respect. Unfortunately, that all goes to hell after a terrible tragedy has him lose it all, dropping him into the streets of Chicago, homeless and lost. Now, haunted by the evils of these events, he ends up in a unique shelter where he meets and talks with counselor Danni (Rachel Cerda), hoping to piece it all together and makes sense of his life.
You’d think that would be enough for a story of redemption, the boxer/fighter archetype an obvious ingredient in a bender of this sort, but Hunter has more up its short sleeve, adding in a vampire angle that turns the film into a whole other ball field, or ring in this case. The aptly named Hunter spends much of the film recalling his past and looking for revenge, the movie flashing back haphazardly to what he thinks he saw and what really happened while he marks his targets for the here and now.
Narratively, Hunter is a jagged edge of past and present that at times can feel a little hard to follow as it opens up and delves further into the habits of the neck biters. Meanwhile, we’re barely in a scene for a few seconds before it skips about in herky-jerky edits that are purposefully working to give this a sort of disorienting flavor as Hunter stalks the streets in search of answers and talks about his past with Danni. It’s not without its appeal, Tarleton’s direction the best thing going with plenty of style that helps keep up the momentum.
Written by Kellerman, Hunter may cling to genre conventions but the dialogue is strong even if its delivery is often less so in the hands of a few actors who don’t quite resonant with all the impact they might. We don’t get at all involved with the family Hunter has lost, they nothing but a brief flash in the past that has us without any investment in his pain, but this is more about urgency than reflection. It all quickly slips into the trappings of the genre, though few films don’t, and it’s predictability at least lends it some stability.
That said, this is bare essentials, and while kudos go to Tarleton, some good work from Cerda and Kellerman, Hunter is a what it is, an indie action title with all the boxes ticked for such (and a possible franchise in mind?). If you’re planning on watching, you’ve probably already accepted that, and maybe are even hoping so. It’s hyper-melodramatic, cheesy, and admittedly, because so, not without some entertainment.