The Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a New Zealand film directed by Taika Waititi, whose work is a pleasing blend of the humorous editing style of Savage Steve Holland, the quirky tone of a working class Wes Anderson and a unique subversion of the outlaw on the run genre. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople is about a foster kid who finds a home with an older couple in the bush until he may have to return to the negligent and demeaning world of the foster system that only treats him as an outlaw. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople stars one of my favorite actors, Sam Neil, and newcomer Julian Dennison, who stars as Ricky Baker.
Don’t let the idea of a kid starring in a movie deter you from seeing The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople reminds me of a postmodern Heidi if Heidi was fed a diet of pop culture and told that she was a juvenile delinquent. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople celebrates the weirdness of people and how it is important to find a place where you belong even if that puts you in some absurd contexts and even if you find the entire situation weird in the extreme. Neil strikes the perfect balance as Hector, who is stuck in the middle of his wife’s well-intentioned and heartwarming kitsch and the law’s extreme reaction to anything that deviates from the norm. [Side note: when Paula says loitering the first time, really note how the film shows Ricky loitering. Hilarious!] He never gets swept away by the absurdity of the situation and unlike Ricky, is grounded enough to decide when to reject or grudgingly embrace the absurdity depending on the intention of the messenger.
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople chronicles Ricky’s journey from a withdrawn, silent and traumatized outcast to a loved and cherished child to his journey to balance the two identities in a time of insecurity. He tries to be brave and pretend to be the outlaw that the child welfare services officer believes him to be, but ultimately he is an inept, underloved, mournful city kid who begins to fiercely hold on to life and love and becomes a survivor under Hector’s tutelage. He makes bad decisions, but The Hunt for the Wilderpeople always shows that it is a child’s bad decisions, not a bad seed’s bad decision. He must also teach Hector to not shrink away from love or community.
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople is framed by the desire to return to the bush, something larger than oneself, to rediscover and this time not harm the huia, an extinct bird, for a second chance at a full life. It is an Edenic response to a fallen world filled with outcasts and misfits. Bella embraces Maori legend to explain her unknown origin and sees death as an opportunity to return to where she belongs where the cloak of heaven gets wet. Ricky may be of indigenous people’s descent, but has inherited none of their culture or skills. Hector and others are more comfortable in the wide expanse of the bush instead of the confines of a house even if surrounded by the prospect of death and danger while in the bush. There is a hilarious, but poorly delivered and awkward sermon about two doors: one with “nummy” treats like civilization offers and the other with another door that eventually leads to another door, Jesus, who is “tricky like that.” The savior of this story is nature. There is the idea that all New Zealanders reject and are uncomfortable with the colonialist heritage, but seek to return to freedom, to the Maori way, to nature, to recapturing what was thought to be lost forever.
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a rocky road to repentance, acceptance and no condemnation. I saw The Hunt for the Wilderpeople two times, and it gets funnier with each subsequent viewing. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople stalls a bit when Ricky briefly gets separated from Hector and sees what life with a normal family could be like. I highly recommend checking out The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but even though everyone speaks English, you may still need subtitles to understand what everyone is saying. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople is suitable for all ages.