He is kidnapped as he passes through the dusty border town of Bedford Flats.
The townsfolk of Bedford Flats honor their buffalo-hunting ancestors by annually hunting and killing amoral men.
As Warren suffers through extreme withdrawal on the unforgiving desert flats, his fight is not just to survive.
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As Bo Dawg speaks, Warren imagines them sitting around a fire in the desert.
The hallucinated Bo Dawg cajoles and needles, never taking an outwardly aggressive tone.
Hidden underneath the flashy blood and guts ofHappy Huntingis an added layer of psychological horror.
Happy Hunting follows Warren, an alcoholic drifter, who stumbles into a desert town where the locals hunt down “undesirables” for sport. As he becomes the next target, Warren must rely on his survival instincts and combat skills to outsmart the hunters and escape the brutal game.
As Warren fortifies himself to survive the game and unite with his daughter, Steve descends into mania.
The loss of Cheryl is Steves call to action, just as discovering his daughter was Warrens.
When Steve discovers Cheryl is dead,he breaks his sobriety and spirals into willful violence.
When Warren hallucinates Bo Dawg, he rejects his darker impulses and chooses to fight his addiction.
When Steve corners Warren and forces him to drink, Warren spits the tequila back into Steves face.
Once a hunter, always a hunter… of the undead.
Most significantly, Warren and Steve are alike due totheir relationship with fatherhood.
Before the kidnapping, Warren and Steve have a heart-to-heart where Steve discloses he caused Cheryl to miscarry.
Both men aretrapped on the cusp of fatherhood.
The empty bedroom and unanswered phone serve as symbols of what Steve and Warren are reaching for.
Through their own actions, Steve and Warren have deprived themselves of being fathers.
The entire plot is only precipitated once Warren learns he has a daughter.
He has no experience of being a parent.
When the audience meets Warren, he is drunk and cooking meth.
Staples like 2007sThe Mist,1989sPet Sematary, or even 1977sEraserheadare all about fathers attempting to do right by their children.
He doesnt want to live for himself, rather he wants to live to meet his child.
Warren is technically a parent, but he wants to get the chancetoparent.
Robbie is ultimately killed in front of Warren by the Wakowski siblings, a trio of hunters.
Some feel the ending ofHappy Huntingis an unnecessary sucker punch, a beat of needless edginess.
Yet, it seems intentional thatHappy Huntingnever depicts a father/child relationship.
Steve is haunted by the pregnancy he accidentally ended.
Warren watches the teenager he tries to take care of bleed out.
He never gets to see his daughter.
At the very beginning of the film, a young boy with bruises watches as Warren kills Bo Dawg.
Despite thehigh rating on Rotten Tomatoes,Happy Huntingis something of an overlooked, hidden gem.
It’s a dark note to close on, but it is realistic.
Happy Huntingis available to watch on Pluto TV in the U.S.
Watch on Pluto TV
