Time to Hunt Movie Review

Released: 19th April 2020 (Netflix)

Length: 134 Minutes

Certificate: 15

Director: Yoon Sung-hyun

Starring: Lee Je-hoon, Ahn Jae-hong, Choi Woo-shik, Park Jung-min and Park Hae-soo

The heist thriller can often be divided into two phases, commencing the operation and the often-damaging aftermath. The South Korean entry: “Time to Hunt” delivers razor-sharp tension, even if it’s underdeveloped in other areas.

Time to Hunt follows four teenagers in a dystopian future: Jun-seok (Lee Je-hoon), his close friends Jang-ho (Ahn Jae-hong) Ki-hoon (Choi Woo-shik) and their inside man Sang-soo (Park Jung-min); fed up with their rotten way of living, they rob a gambling house to fund a new life in a tropical paradise. It seems that the heist is a grand success at first, but the lads soon find themselves being pursued by a brutally efficient hired killer. Han (played by Park Hae-soo) is lethal in his firearms training and relentless in his chase; at many points he enjoys toying with the band of thieves like a predator, making for an unpredictable chain of events. The list of options drastically narrows and efforts to run go to waste as Han closes in; with these scenes often taking place at night, there’s a foreboding immersion to the film that keeps the audience invested. By holding on the four main characters and rarely deviating, the film places us alongside them as the situation goes from bad to worse, thus adding to the danger.

The three guys we follow closely all have very natural chemistry; you believe that they’ve been friends for a long time. Specific characteristics set them apart; Jun-seok is the most passionate about getting away from his run-down neighbourhood, Jang-ho is skilled in some areas but grows forgetful and Ki-hoon puts his family before personal gain. If anything, the character’s families could have played a greater role; perhaps being caught up in the boy’s activities or put at risk as a result; we only see them sporadically throughout the film’s runtime and they could have added a more emotive element to the proceedings. The film still delivers where it counts however, with all four main performers delivering great performances. Finally, there’s Park Hae-soo, who delivers a calm confidence to the antagonist; showing the hitman in his natural element makes him highly intimidating, making you wonder where he’ll show up next.

The setting of Time to Hunt is certainly a bleak one, riddled with rotting scenery and establishments having long failed; there are brief moments where we see crowds arguing for better rights in their dire living spaces, but it’s mostly left to the background. It would have been interesting to see more of it, fuelling the character’s choices to make a better life for themselves. Outside of this missed opportunity, everything else is on top form. The shots capture both the fear on the character’s faces while hiding the wolf who follows them; often this results in some nasty injury detail that is conveyed to a visceral standard. Brilliant sound design ensures the weaponry packs an angry punch, but it’s the quieter sequences where the tension really begins to creep. An orange glow populates many of these moments in which the heist crew, with the stress pouring out of them, attempt to escape. One moment the team is desperately trying to kick-start an escape vehicle and the next they’re racing through an abandoned building looking to make off with their haul. Through and through, this heist thriller is a technically proficient one.

While it could have fleshed out its setting and side characters a little more, Time to Hunt remains a tense and visceral ride. The atmosphere and grim danger the misguided youths find themselves in is a guiding force for the film’s action and each member of the group is given the right amount of depth to make you care. It delivers a rousing and committed thriller scenario.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars (Good)