Last Night I Watched: ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’

Last week I had the pleasure of watching Taika Waititi’s 2016 comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and I loved every second of it. From beginning to end I found myself grinning, laughing out loud, and occasionally overcome with emotion, as is common with Waititi’s films. The emotional rollercoaster that Hunt for the Wilderpeople took me on is something I haven’t experienced since seeing Waititi’s latest feature film, JoJo Rabbit, in cinemas back in 2019, and it beckons me to continue exploring his filmography.

The film centres around a boy named Ricky (played brilliantly by Julian Dennison) who, having been in and out of foster care for years, is finally adopted by a couple who live out in the New Zealand bush. Attempting to avoid spoiling a major plot point for those who have yet to see the film, a number of incidents occur which lead to Ricky and his adopted “Uncle” Hec (played by the wonderfully irritable Sam Neill) being forced to survive in the bush while Child Protective Services mount an ever growing search for the two. The combination of the energetic, troublesome youth and the grumpy, jaded older man lends itself perfectly to the hilarious hijinks that the two stumble into time and time again while evading capture.

Taika Waititi has been able to take moments of pain and trauma and turn them into something which can be celebrated and laughed at

There are moments throughout the film where you can see a true emotional bond forming between the two diametrically opposed characters, showing them both teaching and learning from one another in a genuinely heartwarming way. Couple this with moments of incredibly well written comedy, and it is easy to see how Taika Waititi has been able to take moments of pain and trauma and turn them into something which can be celebrated and laughed at, in a respectful way. As can be seen in a number of his other films (namely Boy and JoJo Rabbit) Waititi is a master of turning what could be a painfully heartbreaking film into something which has audiences laughing and weeping within a single scene, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople is no exception to this.

While narratively the film focuses on the relationship between Ricky and Hec, the aesthetics of the film focus on expressing a deep love of the natural world that the characters are surrounded by, something expressed throughout the film by Hec, and which Ricky comes to understand. It is easy to see how Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a love letter to New Zealand, the setting playing a key role in the narrative progression, as well as in the development of its characters. From the very start I was blown away by the natural beauty on display, the establishing shots of the bush showing just how stunning untouched wild lands can be. Waititi includes reference to the indigenous people of New Zealand in a tongue-in-cheek way, setting them up to be “bush people” before revealing a perfectly standard, western, modern society, paying homage to his own Māori ancestry whilst straying far from depictions of the stereotypes commonly attributed to indigenous peoples.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a perfect film for getting lost in the natural beauty of the world, and discovering yourself through the lens of an unlikely friendship

Ultimately, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a beautiful film, both aesthetically and narratively, toying with the strained relationship between a troubled youth and his adopted family in a comically abnormal situation, leading to hilarity but also personal growth. Taika Waititi achieves all this while doing everything within his power to draw his audience into the natural beauty of his home country, begging for an appreciation of the natural world that is often lost in a society obsessed with the next technological development. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a perfect film for getting lost in the natural beauty of the world, and discovering yourself through the lens of an unlikely friendship.

Whether you are familiar with Waititi’s works similar to this, simply know him as the guy who directed Thor: Ragnarok, or have never heard his name before, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a film I would recommend to all. It is one of the most joyful films I have seen in a very long time, and I think that’s something we could all do with.