Jagten

I rewatched the Danish movie Jagten (aka The Hunt, 2012) last night, a film that I always feel a bit weird calling one of my favourites due to it's dark subject matter, but it's just so artfully made and deals with such important themes.


It stars Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas, a single middle aged man trying to rebuild his life after a divorce, who lives in the small town where he works in a childrens daycare - the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone and all of their business. Klara, the 5 year old daughter of his best friend, attends the daycare and develops a childish crush on Lucas as he's kind and takes the time to listen to her whereas her parents are usually arguing. One day Klara places a heart shaped gift in Lucas's pocket and gives him a kiss on the lips, and Lucas is quick to admonish her which hurts her feelings. As she's sulking from the rejection, Grethe, the head of the daycare, asks Klara if she's OK and Klara says something that is understood to mean Lucas has sexually abused her. Grethe brings in a child psychologist who asks Klara a series of leading questions, not allowing Klara to go and play with her friends until she's answered. Grethe doesn't believe that a child would lie about such a thing and so Lucas is branded a paedophile and shunned by the entire community. Although a police investigation proves Lucas is innocent, he continues to be ostracised which quickly leads to violence as the community doles out it's own sense of justice.

It's an incredibly heart wrenching film to watch, especially as it's inspired by true events that happened in Norway. Director and co-writer Thomas Vinterberg said of the film "When someone is accused of child abuse, the kids get interrogated by policemen and psychiatrists who repeatedly ask them the same questions. Sometimes, the kids give the grown-ups the answers they want. They say, ‘yes, he abused me.’ Then everyone goes crazy and for the child, his whole world falls apart."

It's a bit of a controversial take to not believe a child, but I think the reason that the film is able to pull it off is how it leaves us in no doubt that Lucas is innocent. It lays all of the cards on the table and we're shown how a few unprofessional leading questions can ruin a persons life and fuel a mob mentality. It's not a natural choice for a protagonist, but Mads Mikkelsen plays Lucas with a bewildered charm and it's devastating and uncomfortable to watch his life slowly unravel. Even after the community forgives him, we see that the damage has been done - a stone cannot simply be uncast.

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Whilst it's unfortunately far more frequent for child abusers go unpunished rather than falsely accused, Jagten perfectly tackles the paranoia of modern society, particularly the stigma of men working in environments with children and displaying any kindness that could be misconstrued and yet considered normal between a woman and non-related child. It criticizes the ease of society to sit, point and judge, without even bothering to verify the facts or consider an alternative viewpoint, something that feels ever more prevalent in todays 'cancel' culture. This is simply a powerful and enraging film that reminds us just how judgemental we tend to be towards others and the devastating effects it can have.