The Wild Hunt

Larpers (more properly L.A.R.P.ers, i.e. Live-Action Role Players, i.e. folks that dress up like goblins and wizards and engage in foam-sword combat in the woods) have been one side of a cinematic love affair, of late. Documentaries like Darkon and Monster Camp try and peel back the fake fur and face paint to see the real people beneath, while comedies like Role Models see in the admittedly nerdy hobby a wellspring of both laughs and weirdly noble self-realization.

In director Alexandre Franchi's debut film The Wild Hunt, larping is something altogether more serious, and much more sinister. Erik Magnusson (Ricky Mabe), a Canadian born to an Icelandic father whom he now reluctantly cares for, is bothered by repeated dreams of a banging door and the sound of his girlfriend Evelyn (Tiio Horn) crying out in fear. Evelyn has left him for the weekend, to role play a princess in Erik's older brother Bjorn's larp-group, a viking and troll setting Bjorn (Mark A. Krupa) has all but disappeared into. To win her back, Erik must navigate the confusing, threatening larp world, where he discovers that some of the players aren't just escaping workaday responsibilities but are instead building a framework to work out some of their darker, more violent fantasies.

It's an enjoyable film, troubled by a difficult script. On the one hand it's enjoyably novel: setting a murder-and-revenge story amongst the assumedly meek, awkward foam-sword and teva-sandals crowd is an entertaining twist, and Franchi, helped enormously by good Gothic set dec and often beautiful cinematography by Claudine Sauvé is able to wring surprisingly high drama out of the whole thing. On the other hand, in building up to the grand guignol finale the film strains and struggles, testing credulity both in terms of character motivation and in terms of basic emotional mathematics: it's hard at points to understand why Erik doesn't just dismiss the whole mess and go home. That said, there's rather more of the former dark beauty than the latter character weirdness, and the film (especially as a Canadian film artifact) is massively enjoyable on its merits, of which there are plenty. Missteps along a very original path are easily excused. 8/10

The Wild Hunt is dark. The LARPers for the most part come across as craven, reminiscent of Vikings, nordic warriors and pub-dwellers alike.

The lovers are morose throughout. The actors in the background were largely mute. The real gems of acting come from the King, the Viking leader and Shaman. But these were inconsistent.

The film stood out because it evoked emotion and worry throughout, the soundtrack created mood and the well delivered tirades of screaming and begging encompassed tangible fear. The question of, "How far will they go?" really carried the film for me. Not wanting to have the dark side of humanity revealed but far too intrigued to stop watching.

The cinematography was realistic, with the tone and music really pinpointing the despair of being locked in a false reality at the behest of others.

There were moments where the film lulled to a crawl but this same failure, that of dragging time, really allowed the dramatic moments longevity.

While I didn't enjoy all of the movie, I give it 7/10 for the innovation and emotions it evoked.

I checked this out after I read some good reports from festival screenings. I really can't see the appeal of Live Action role-playing, so the film's greatest achievement is that it held my interest at all. I enjoyed the initial comedy of the absurd situations the non-playing lead character finds himself in, once he has barged his way into this make-believe environment. The plot shift and changes in tone from then on, which keeps it unpredictable.

The film is extremely well put together, especially for having been made on such a low budget. The cinematography and the unusual soundtrack are first class. There is some genuinely beautiful and haunting imagery, especially once the hunt gets underway.

For me the biggest problem with The Wild Hunt is that at its heart this is supposed to be a love story, but we never really learn much about the characters or their relationships. It's about a guy on a 'quest' to win back his girlfriend but she remains a cypher from the beginning to the end. I never understood her motivations at all, she just came across as unstable and selfish and therefore I never invested in what's at stake for him.

The other characters are underdeveloped as well and as someone who can't relate to the idea of LARP I would have liked to know more about what draws people to it other than the obvious implication that some do it to escape their real life problems.

I just finished watching this movie and I feel so happy I didn't miss it in the recent flood of low budget crap. Technically, "The Wild Hunt" can easily compete with 50 times more expensive movies (if the estimated budget of $300,000 listed on IMDb is true). Actors are less known, but they did helluva job. I'm trying right now to think of any drawbacks that I could put here, but nothing important comes to my mind. Maybe only that most of movie is going on in the dark. Also, action starts very late, so I had to fight with myself to survive first hour. Luckily I won, and the award was exciting finale. I was misled by it's trailer that it's a horror, but it's actually my mistake because it's clearly stated on it's IMDb page that it is a thriller/drama). Give it a try

Reviews Of Unusual Size!

Re: An intense session of LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) gets out of control when a man breaks the veil of fantasy in an attempt to win back his girlfriend.

Outstanding: Some very strong performances here. Great sets and physical effects. Despite the dark tone of the film, there are some moments of humor. I love the poster.

Unacceptable: Some actors were a little questionable, but thanks to the blurring of reality and LARP life, that never impacted the emotion of the movie. Some reviewers claim that the world of LARPing is inaccurately portrayed. The music could be overbearing at times. I have no idea how Erik managed to speak in his angry viking voice the entire movie without losing his voice.

Summary: This was a very bleak film. I figured it would go down the path it took, but I was surprised at how cohesive the entire movie felt as a whole. There are some excellent performances, especially from the two brothers and the referee, who deserves more praise for her part. This is not a pleasant movie - it's almost Coen Brothers-esque and you wont leave it with a good feeling, but it is worth watching. An interesting take on the potential violence within us.

4/5