Hunt for the Wilderpeople
by Robbo
Posted on 25 May 2021
Rating -
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a 2016 New Zealand adventure comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, whose screenplay was based on the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump.
Julian Dennison plays Ricky Baker, a juvenile delinquent who was abandoned by his mother, is taken by child welfare services officer Paula (Rachel House) and police officer Andy (Oscar Kightley), to live in a remote farm with foster aunt Bella Faulkner (Rima Te Wiata) and her husband, the cantankerous Hector ‘Hec’ Faulkner (Sam Neill).
Hec is remote, but Bella quickly manages to break through Ricky’s defensive shell by taking him hunting and giving him a dog for his 13th birthday, which he names Tupac after his idol Tupac Shakur.
When Bella suddenly dies and Hec tells Ricky that child services will take him back so Ricky ineptly fakes his suicide by burning a barn and runs away into the bush with Tupac, where he is completely unable to cope and gets lost.
Hec finds him easily but breaks his ankle in a fall, forcing the two to camp for a period of time.
The authorities meanwhile have found the house empty and the barn burnt down, and come to the conclusion that the bereaved and mentally unstable Hec has abducted Ricky.
The impression is strengthened after an encounter with three foolish hunters (Joe, Ron, and Hugh) who get the idea that Hec is molesting Ricky.
Hec reveals to Ricky that he has served prison time for manslaughter and is illiterate.
Ricky, in turn, says his only friend in foster care has died and that his only options are risking the same fate in the foster system, or serve time in juvenile prison.
The pair agree to disappear into the bush whilst a national manhunt ensues, and the two slowly bond while working together to escape arrest.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is an offbeat yet funny film with a solid cast directed by a talented filmmaker.
The film is driven by the relationship between Neill’s and Dennison’s characters who are initially cool towards one another but eventually warm to each other.
The film has funny, dramatic and really sad moments but doesn’t descend into sentimentality.
This is a film that I would highly recommend.
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