The Hunt (2012 film)

Lucas is a member of a close-knit Danish community and works at a local kindergarten. Divorced, he struggles to maintain a relationship with his teenage son, who lives with his ex-wife, but enjoys wholesome interaction with the children at the kindergarten. His coworker Nadja makes advances towards him and eventually moves in as his girlfriend.

One of the kindergarten pupils is Klara, the daughter of Lucas' best friend Theo. Drawing on memory of a pornographic picture her brother showed her, she makes comments that lead the kindergarten director to believe Lucas indecently exposed himself to her. When interviewed with leading questions, Klara gives unclear testimony against Lucas. The adults in the community believe the director's story of abuse, dismissing Klara's later contradictions as denial.

Lucas is shunned by the community as a pedophile sexual predator. His friendship with Theo is destroyed, the pressure causes him to break up with Nadja, and his son is publicly ostracised. The kindergarten staff ask leading questions of other children at the kindergarten, who also say they were abused. However, the children's accounts mention details of Lucas's basement, which supports Lucas's innocence, as his house has no basement. After a hearing, he is released without charge.

The community is still suspicious of Lucas, however, and the ostracism turns to violence. His dog, Fanny, is killed, a stone is thrown through his window, and he is beaten by grocery store employees when he tries to buy food. On Christmas Eve, Lucas confronts Theo during a public church service. Later, Theo overhears Klara apologizing to Lucas as she drifts off to sleep. His doubts about Lucas' innocence are resolved, and he visits him on Christmas Day with food and alcohol as a peace offering.

A year later, tensions in the community have lessened. Lucas and Nadja are in a relationship again, and Lucas's son is accepted into the local hunting society as an adult. On a hunting expedition to commemorate the event, an unseen person shoots at Lucas and misses him. Blinded by the setting sun, Lucas is unable to identify his attacker, who reloads but flees.

• Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas
• Alexandra Rapaport as Nadja, Lucas' girlfriend
• Thomas Bo Larsen as Theo, Lucas' best friend
• Lasse Fogelstrøm as Marcus, Lucas' son
• Susse Wold as Grethe
• Lars Ranthe as Bruun
• Anne Louise Hassing as Agnes, Theo's wife
• Bjarne Henriksen as Ole
• Annika Wedderkopp as Klara, Theo and Agnes' daughter
• Ole Dupont as Landowner / Lawyer

The film was produced by Zentropa for 20 million Danish kroner. It received co-production support from Sweden's Film i Väst and Zentropa International Sweden. Further support came from the Danish Film Institute, DR, Eurimages, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Swedish Film Institute, Sveriges Television and the MEDIA Programme.[3]

Nordisk Film released it in Denmark on 10 January 2013.[3] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 7 May 2013.

• List of submissions to the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Danish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• False allegation of child sexual abuse

• Official website
• The Hunt at IMDb
• The Hunt at Box Office Mojo
• The Hunt at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Hunt at Metacritic
• The Hunt (2012 film) in the Danish Film Database