The Hunter

Editorial

Harshly inviting, the stunning terrain of Tasmania's interior is adroitly used as a panoramic puzzle in this "man vs wild" meditation. While flecked with murder-mystery and thriller elements, this deliberate, artful adaptation of Sleeping Beauty filmmaker Julia Leigh's bestselling novel The Hunter cleaves to its environs core.

Willem Dafoe's appropriately taciturn turn as an imported tracker befits the cinematic crags and breathtaking naturalism of his photogenic surroundings.

Back in Australia for a more satisfying upshot than vampire simmer Daybreakers, Dafoe brings his inherent magnetism to a lean yet permeating tale of predatory behaviour and protection against corrupting force.

Experienced in television production, director Daniel Nettheim confidently stalks coiled Dafoe, who is never subsumed by the minimal exchanges and vast wilderness.

Daybreakers co-star Sam Neill does his "menacing but matey" bit well but is lumped with having to carry the biggest logic leaps on offer. By contrast, the slow-burn involvement of Martin in the home-life of Lucy (Frances O'Connor) actually adds to the overarching thrust of searching for what may never be found.

Jude Allder