Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Hilarious and delightfully off-beat, this adventure comedy is a brilliant film with great performances, a heartfelt tone and an affecting pairing.

Young trouble-maker Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is offloaded to a couple out in the New Zealand bush. Not wanting to go back into child protection, he makes a break for it but ends up lost in the forest. He’s soon found by ‘Uncle’ Hector (Sam Neill) and the pair of them have to stick together as the media begins hunting them in the belief that Hec has kidnapped the boy.

If you’re not actually laughing, you’re easily grinning from ear to ear at the splendid antics going on in front of you. The script ensures we get to watch an excellently paced movie with plenty of comical dialogue, farce and buddy-like adventure hyped up like a live-action Up.

Taika Waititi writes/directs this film with a great eye for encouraging the engaging dynamic between Hec and Ricky. The way Waititi writes Ricky in particular helps the movie bound along with an effortless energy and humour. Waititi also acts brilliantly in a small yet superb role as a jabbering minister.

It’s a blessing that you never really know where this film is going, or where it may end up - this unpredictability helps keep the movie interesting. The film is made up of 10 chapters and each one zips along nicely with guaranteed laughs but also building the dramatic bond between the lad and his new father figure. You really feel these characters grow, and that’s a sign of a well told story.