The Hunter

The Hunter: Willem Dafoe’s wild-eyed intensity finds razor focus in his role as a mercenary who’s hired by a biotech company to bag the elusive, and perhaps extinct, Tasmanian tiger. Rooming in a hippie household with a mysteriously bereft mother and her two untamed children on the edge of the jungle, Dafoe’s character makes enemies among the redneck locals as he stalks his prey. But his real battle is with himself. Based on the novel by Julia Leigh, and directed by Australia’s Daniel Nettheim, The Hunter builds suspense in a breathtaking, febrile landscape. And as a backpacking hit man setting traps on the wild, Dafoe is mesmerizing.