Av: The Hunt doesn’t waste any time at all getting to the action. In less than five minutes, we already have one dead body and a woman racing barefoot through some Turkish streets in search of shelter. The woman in question is Ayse (Billur Melis Koç), and she’s being ruthlessly hunted by her father’s henchmen after bringing dishonour on the family by being unfaithful to her overbearing husband. Ayse is then caught in a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek as the men close in on their target.
Directed by Emre Akay, Av: The Hunt offers the viewer an intriguing method of story-telling. We’ve all seen these types of action thrillers before, but Akay constructs his narrative in a less traditional fashion. He does this by kicking the film off in what would, for most films, be the second act. Rather than waste time exemplifying why Ayse hates her husband, or how exactly she came to incur her fathers wrath, Akay dives headfirst into the pursuit; the film is called ‘The Hunt’ after-all. Similarly, the ending, although satisfying, could be viewed as the end of the second act, making the entire film a mere snapshot in the grand scheme of things. The result makes for a great slice of action, but with no set-up or resolution, it lacks clarity. The stalking through woodland provides most of the hunt’s location, which begins to feel a lot like a video game level, right down to the stealthy sneaking around and grabbing enemies to dispatch.
As the bulk of our pursuit unfolds in the wilderness, it’s important that the locales are impressive, and that’s most definitely how we would describe the locations on offer here. The woods themselves are majestic and menacing, leaving plenty of places for both sides to lie in wait. Due to the climate, they also have the tendency to get rather foggy, which generates stunning cinematography. In fact, all of the locations are shot beautifully, showing off hidden wonders in all their glory. One such setting, an expansive cave, is simply breathtaking.
Where Av: The Hunt falters is by not having any set-up at all; the viewer is left scrambling trying to figure out exactly what is going on. Why people are chasing her, and what on Earth she could have done to warrant such malice, is unclear. In order to really know what’s going on, you have to read the film’s official synopsis prior to watching, which means that those of us that prefer to go into a film cold will be at a distinct disadvantage. We also never learn that much about any one of our characters. Ayse’s ex is a two-dimensional bully whom antagonises and intimidates his own army of men, and all we learn about the rest is that two of them are cousins. Ayse herself doesn’t fair much better. She’s far too busy focused on surviving to give any insight into her background, and it’s only through one flashback to her childhood that semi-justifies how she is so resilient at adapting to survive. It’s not much for Billur Melis Koç to work with so she focuses her performance more on the physicality of the role and appears to relish channelling her inner Sarah Connor.
A bold story-telling structure that cuts off all of the fat in favour of lean mean action, which mostly works. It’s just a shame that we never get into the details of what is happening and why. Lack of clarity aside, Av: The Hunt is a visually dynamic movie that maintains viewer interest until the bitter end.
AV: The Hunt was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2020.
Av: The Hunt
Summary
As innovative as the narrative structure appears, the lack of clarity will cause confusion amongst many meaning Av: The Hunt can never rise above being a really good cinematic game of hide and seek.
