Quebec writer-director Annick Blanc’s first feature is a stylistically striking wilderness sojourn whose character dynamics don’t play out as you initially expect.

“Hunting Daze” begins with a premise familiar from many a past exploitation movie: Comely but tough lone woman finds herself having to beg assistance from a bunch of boozed-up, back-slapping bros having a dudes-only weekend in a remote rural setting. Suspense formula would decree that they’ll turn their rifle sights from wild game to this fresh prey, though not before some preliminary “sport” with her. 

That is the expectation, but not what writer-director Annick Blanc’s debut feature actually delivers. Instead, she serves up an unpredictable allegory whose message is sometimes cloudy, but whose striking confidence and bold stylistic gambits are never less than impressive. This French-language Canadian production is many things — some aspects less than fully developed — but most of all an announcement of a precociously assured new talent whose future moves will be worth charting.

Related Stories

Photo illustration of a robot's hand dropping a coin into a human palm VIP+

Training AI With TV & Film Content: How Licensing Deals Look

Robert Downey Deadpool

Robert Downey Jr. Turned Down Iron Man Cameo in 'Deadpool & Wolverine' After Reading Scene; Writers Also Had an Idea to Bring the Six Original Avengers Back

Introduced as a disgruntled outsider already, Nina (Nahema Ricci) is first seen keeping a ticked-off distance from fellow travelers in a vehicle that’s stalled on a country road in northern Quebec — somebody forgot to gas up before driving into the boonies. We soon grasp that these are strippers or sex workers in the ostensible charge of a sleazy de facto pimp, with whom Nina is at wit’s end. When a truck pulls up, she climbs aboard and tells the others what they can do with themselves.

Popular on Variety

Her savior is Kevin (Frederic Millaire-Zouvi), who was in the party of paying gents they’d driven up here to entertain the prior night. She says she’s fine being dropped off at the nearest bus stop, but Kevin informs her that in this remote place, the next one won’t come till Friday. Still, he’s most reluctant to take her back to the cabin where he’s staying with four mates whose carnal desires have presumably already been sated, and who are unlikely to welcome a “damsel in distress” into the re-sealed boys’ club. 

Indeed, the mixture of leers and hostility that greets a returned Nina from jockish young Claude (Alexandre Landry), bearded “philosopher” Philippe (Marc Beaupre), pretty boy LP (Maxime Genois) and glowering alpha Bernard (Bruno Marcil) is not at all reassuring. They take a vote on whether she can stay, deciding it’s a go “if she agrees to live like a wolf with the wolves, according to the laws of the pack, and if she agrees to pass the initiation.” Uh-oh.

This is the juncture at which one expects the “games” of sexual assault, violence and lethal stalking to commence. But instead it’s where Blanc begins to upend expectations. Not only does Nina prove up to the fairly harmless fraternity-type task challenges demanded, she bonds with the “pack” — as an equal, not a humored novelty or object of desire. Nonetheless, we remain wary when she’s roused from a hung-over sleep the next morning for an actual hunting expedition. Here too, however, Blanc keeps us off-guard with what doesn’t come to pass, instead underlining our heroine’s flinty adaptability. Indeed, Ricci conveys such hard-earned self assurance, it’s easy to believe Nina could handle herself in any potentially threatening company.

But the group dynamic changes once again when another stray is found in the person of apparent African guest worker Doudos (Noubi Ndiaye), whose being stranded in this remote place goes unexplained. A second night’s “initiation” festivities ensue. But this time, things get a little out of hand, and hard decisions must be made.

“Hunting Daze” lives up to its title with an increasingly hallucinatory progress in which we’re not always certain what might be a dream, drug-induced vision or some kind of supernatural signal. The seemingly simple surface indictment of privileged white guys versus “others” (a Black immigrant man, a possibly mixed-race woman) is undercut by Blanc’s ambiguities of character and plotting — and even more so by her rich array of aesthetic flourishes, which are often flamboyant but never feel gratuitous. They range from stylized Bacchanalian set-pieces to breathtaking scenic views in Vincent Gonneville’s excellent widescreen cinematography. Peter Venne’s original score is always interesting, sometimes gorgeous, and the choice of preexisting tracks (notably the Turtles’ “Happy Together”) does not disappoint. 

Drawing on a strong selection of Quebec actors, the director also elicits solid performances down the line, even if there’s more dimension implied than palpable in their roles. “Daze” ends on notes both showy and murky, their presentation again more assertive than the somewhat opaque import beneath. But for something that at first glance looks like a straight-ahead genre piece, Blanc’s toying with magical realism and other ambitious conceits doesn’t need to be neatly sewn-up thematically. It’s enough that she makes those leaps, and brings considerable panache to the effort. 

Read More About:

Jump to Comments

‘Hunting Daze’ Review: A Lone Woman Crashes a Boys’ Club in This Edgy, Ambiguous Thriller

Reviewed online, July 24, 2024. In Fantasia Festival. Running time: 80 MIN. (Original title: “Jour de chasse.”)

  • Production: (Canada) A Midi La Nuit production. (World sales: Arthood Entertainment, Berlin.) Producers: Maria Gracia Turgeon, Annick Blanc. Executive producer: Pierre Even. 
  • Crew: Director, writer: Annick Blanc. Camera: Vincent Gonneville. Editor: Amelie Labreche. Music: Peter Venne.
  • With: Nahema Ricci, Bruno Marcil, Frederic Millaire-Zouvi, Marc Beaupre, Alexandre Landry, Maxime Genois, Noubi Ndiaye. (French dialogue) 

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXOAjp%2BgpaVfp7K3tcSwqmigpaPBqrrGZpuaspViv6bCyJ6uZqKfqr9usMRmmqGZo6iybn2RbG1pcWNqf3p7