The Marvel Cinematic Universe has made it something of a habit to hire independent directors to direct their films in recent years. Probably the most successful result of this was Thor: Ragnarok in 2017, directed by Taika Waititi, which came out to rave reviews. Waititi’s last film before being swooped up by the MCU behemeoth was just one year prior, with Hunt for the Wilderpeople, his buddy comedy of orphan Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) and grouchy old Hector (Sam Neill) as they evade a national manhunt in “the bush” of New Zealand. The bare plot and structure has been compared to Up, but this film is much more consistent with its depth and humor.
The movie opens with Child Services bringing Ricky to meet his new foster parents, Hector and Bella (Rima Te Wiata). Bella is the loving, motherly figure that Ricky never had, and she quickly brings down Ricky’s walls with her sincerity and affection. Hector, on the other hand, grudgingly tries to avoid him. Soon afterwards, events transpire that lead Ricky and Hector to run off into millions of acres of undeveloped jungle known as “the bush” as they are chased by the Child Services and even the police.
You might not be able to tell from that description of the plot that this is a comedy – and even might think it is a heavy drama – but make no mistake, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is one of the funniest movies of the last decade. Unlike most comedies that try to write setups to jokes and insert punchlines, Waititi finds humor in the various situations themselves, whether mundane or tragic. That unique brand of Taika’s earnest humor is evident throughout. One of his gifts as a filmmaker is not only the ability to write children’s dialogue in an authentic way, but to actually look and see the world through a kid’s eyes.
The movie does deal with serious issues and addresses them head on. Family problems, foster care, death, loss, and grief are all talked about very honestly, but with the resilience and matter-of-factness of a child. A couple of heartbreaking lines that get me every time are when Bella tells Ricky: “So happy we found you buddy. Sorry it took so long.” And then when Ricky and Hec are bunked up and talking about how Bella and Hector couldn’t have kids, Ricky’s response is “That’s not very fair. Some people can’t even have babies. And the ones who can don’t even want them.” Some of the most honest conversations in the film happen between Ricky and another kid he meets, Kahu, who upon meeting him asks him questions that an adult would avoid, including whether he’s ever tried to find his birth mother or whether he wants to live a normal life.
Hector has his own issues and arguably has the bigger character arc in the film. While Ricky is a “problem child” who tries to run away from home, he pretty quickly finds a sense of belonging in Bella’s embrace and fights for his newfound family. Hector, on the other hand, has a lifetime of cynicism to work through. But like all great buddy movies, they both need each other. Hector teaches Ricky life and survival skills (in the beginning of the film it’s established that Ricky can barely get a few hundred yards when he tries to run away). It is played for laughs but Ricky teaches Hector things too: what “skux” means, how important it is to process grief (even through writing haikus and other coping mechanism he’s picked up from therapy), and how to approach life with optimism. Both of them feel rejected by society and want to escape, but ultimately they both help each other reintegrate into society.
There is a certain absurdism to the film that is so funny – the SWAT teams, Child Services taking itself way too seriously (Rachel House might be the funniest person in this movie, with her motto “no child left behind”), but it feels in some ways like a stylized version of what is going on in Ricky’s head. He loves to exaggerate, whether it is talking about how much of a gangster he is, telling tall tales about himself and Hector in the wild, or even describing the police and dogs as “ninjas” and “direwolves”. It is funny and endearing, and to some extent all children have a heightened sense of reality, but it really hits home when you realize that this is a hurt child, an orphan, who has had to resort to escapism and fantasy in his mind to deal with a lot of the trauma he’s endured. Ultimately, Ricky’s detour at Kahu’s house is an important step because it plants in him the seeds of a desire for normal life again.
Again, this is a hilarious film, although this review may not reflect that. It’s always an injustice to try to re-create humorous moments with the written word but there are countless lines here that stick in the memory – some of my favorites are: “It was a relaxing sausage”, “He’s tricky like that, Jesus”, “Are you going to manslaughter him?” but the comedic performances are as good as gold across the board. One particular favorite is when Bella unforgettably sings happy birthday to Ricky (which was made up on the spot once Waititi and the crew realized they didn’t have the rights to the happy birthday song). This movie is 1 hour and 40 minutes of pure entertainment – Waititi uses montages (“stealing, spitting, running away, throwing rocks, defacing stuff, kicking stuff…”) and music to make sure that the pacing never drags, while still slowing down enough to let the heartfelt moments sit with us.
As talented as Waititi is – and for my money, he is the best comedic director in the game right now – the film does not work without the spectaular casting of Julian Dennison. Sam Neill is a fantastic straight man, but Dennison is the crown jewel. It’s a lot to ask for a kid to just act well, but to be vulnerable, have comedic timing, match up with veteran actors, convey pathos, and on top of all that be from New Zealand feels like an impossible task come true. You couldn’t imagine anyone else in that part.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is one of the best and most rewatchable movies in recent years – an instant classic. It is prime Waititi, confident and established in his filmmaking but still experimental and not like a big studio film at all. It masters the tonal shifts between drama and comedy: when you start laughing at a funeral scene while still feeling sad, you know you are watching something special. Waititi is an unmatched talent at being able to be wholly sentimental and heartwarming and completely funny at the same time, without losing an iota of either emotion. This is truly a majestical movie.
