With rumors circulating regarding the sighting of the thought to have been extinct Tasmanian Tiger, a biotech firm enlists a the services of a lonesome mercenary (Willem Dafoe) to set out for the Australian island state and extract DNA from the elusive creature. There he takes residence and forms a bond with a woman whose husband has gone missing and left her alone with two small children, as the parameters of his mission become increasingly more dangerous. Watching "The Hunter", a formidable adaptation of Julia Leigh's novel, at home on my couch, I wondered how on earth something like thing could have been relegated to DVD/On Demand viewing, especially in a theater year that has been brimming with mediocrity. Willem Dafoe turns in an excellent performance in an supremely set and expertly photographed film, which contains high supsense blended with human story elements. Also, Sam Neill turns up, probably because he hasn't made a film about extinct animals lately (I just had to work that sentence in, pardon me). While watching "The Hunter", I was also reminded of "The Pledge" and "The American", two other superb films about outsiders alone on a mission in the vast wilderness.
