The Hunt (opens in Cleveland August 2nd exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[THE HUNT opens in Cleveland on Friday August 2nd exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]


Review by Bob Ignizio

There is no doubt that the sexual abuse of children takes place, and that when it does, it is a horrible thing. There is also no doubt that innocent people have been wrongly accused and convicted of committing such acts, and that even when they are exonerated, public perception often continues to see them as guilty. Thomas Vinterberg's THE HUNT deals with an example of the latter.


The story concerns a well liked kindergarten teacher named Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen). Lucas is especially well liked by Klara (Annika Wedderkopp ), the daughter of his best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen). One day when Klara is mad at Lucas, she vents about him to the principal of the kindergarten, insulting him using language that she picked up from her older brother and his friends that could reasonably be interpreted in such as way as to make an adult think that Lucas had inappropriate contact with the girl. This is further compounded when someone with no real skill or authority to interrogate children asks Klara leading questions and plants further details in her head. Soon, the whole town is convinced that Lucas is guilty, and before any trial has taken place, they treat him accordingly.