I saw this indie flick at the Belcourt Theater in early September, but it has stuck with me since then. After premiering at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” had a wide release in New Zealand, garnering the highest grossing weekend for a NZ film. It went on to become the highest grossing film in Australia ever.
When I say a “New Zealand film,” I mean a film that was 100% shot in the island nation of New Zealand–which brings me to my first reason you need to watch this film.
1. The New Zealand Scenery
The film is about a young boy, Ricky Baker, who has hopped from foster home to foster home. Feeling unwanted and desperate to embrace the gangster lifestyle, he rebels in each environment that Child Welfare Services places him in. Their last ditch attempt before throwing him in juvie is to stick him on a farm in the middle of nowhere, out by the bush.
It looks like he’s finally found himself a home, but his foster aunt dies and her husband, Hec (“Uncle”), has no desire to take care of a child on his own. Well-aware that Child Welfare Services is coming to pick him up at the end of the week, Ricky runs away into the bush, and Uncle is forced to go after him.
The rest of the movie follows their adventures in the gorgeous New Zealand scenery — the rolling hills, the dense forests, and the lush greenery. It’s hard to find a movie since “Lord of the Rings” that features the landscapes of the country so heavily and really lets it stand for itself.
Indie comedy drama, or Discovery Channel bit in disguise?
2. You Will Laugh Until You Cry
Ricky and Uncle see no problem with living out in the bush for a few months, but the rest of the country does. A national manhut begins for the two of them, and a ridiculous story gets built up. Uncle is painted as a pedophile who went crazy when his wife died and kidnapped Ricky, and Ricky is the child delinquient, so not to be trusted either.
The movie gains both a lot of drama and comedy from this scenario. The highlights are when the unlikely duo come face to face with other travelers in the bush. These interactions always leave them digging their hole a little bit deeper.
3. Taika Waititi directed it.
“A director-comedian-painter-writer-photographer-actor, he’s the sort of artist that the hyphen was invented for” are the words used to describe the director of the upcoming “Thor: Ragnarok” film.
Here is with some of the cast of “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.”
And I found this individual set of photos of him from Sundance that firmly established him as my new #MCM. He is beyond adorable.
He said this about Ricky Baker: “I just thought it would be very funny for a kid who’s obsessed with Tupac and being a tough kid on the streets of the city to be thrown out into the harsh realities of the New Zealand winter.”
He also makes a cameo as the oddball minister at Aunt Bella’s funeral.
4. Chris Hemsworth said to go see it.
Chris Hemsworth, aka the God of Thunder himself, said this about the film:
“It’s got more heart, humor and fun than a bag of marshmallows.”
Here’s a pic of Chris and Taika Waititi, proving why they’re my favorites.
5. Sam Neill shows off his New Zealand accent.
I think I’ve always been that little girl in the first “Jurassic Park” movie who is both in awe of and in love with Sam Neill.
After an hour into the film, I realized that hidden underneath all the wooly layers of coats and white beard was that all-too-familiar snarkiness. He’s nearly unrecognizable…nearly. Who knew Sam Neill was from New Zealand??
6. It’s heartwarming.
Whether it’s the haikus that Ricky writes to help him with his anger, or the look in Uncle’s eyes as he starts to really care for Ricky like a son, this movie finds a million ways to warm your heart. Julian Dennison, who plays Ricky, said this about the mixing of humor and sadness in the film: “Behind Ricky and all of the things he’s been through and foster care, you know, it’s actually a really sad film. But [Waititi] also incorporated jokes so kids can go and watch it and adults, which was a really special idea to draw people in, talking about these serious things but also having a humor to it and, you know, a laugh to it.” This ultimately produces that “heartwarming” feeling I’ve been going on about.
I know this is very early 2000s of me, but I am definitely going to buy this on DVD. Watch the trailer here.
I will leave you with a haiku that Uncle writes at the end of the film:
Me and this fat kid
we ran, we ate, and read books
And it was the best