Hunt for the Wilderpeople (4K Review)

It’s incredible how ten years can change things. Like how, in ten years, Taika Waititi has gone from darling of the indie comedy scene, known for his quirky New Zealand humour, to Hollywood wunderkind to a name that elicits major groans from audiences. It’s impressive that all the goodwill making Eagle vs Shark, Boy, What We Do In the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople can dissipate due to, in no small part, over-saturation.

Wilderpeople might well be Waititi’s finest work. It’s not as mainstream as Thor: Ragnarok nor as awards-courting as Jojo Rabbit, but what it does is cross the barrier between his very odd sense of humour and the appeal that his Hollywood films would have. That they take the mundane and explode into the fantastical.

The film follows Ricky Baker (a breakout role for Julian Dennison) who is fostered by the kind-hearted Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and her stoic husband Hec (the late, sorely missed Sam Neill). When Bella dies, Hec and Ricky go into the woods and are pursued by a child welfare agent (the never-better Rachel House).

Perhaps the schtick of absurdism got old quick, but the heel turn on Waititi is quite surprising considering the amount of goodwill this film and his first Marvel outing gained him. Perhaps letting Waititi derail films like Free Guy or him signing on to direct everything that came his way only for it never to materialise (Star Wars, Akira, several other projects) might have dulled the allure of his brand.

But Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a genuinely charming film. The growing relationship between Neill and Dennison, made deeper by their undeniable comic timing and chemistry, makes the film feel like something classic. It’s an adventure film where the stakes are somewhat low, but the emotion is high. It’s helped that Rachel House is a worthy third wheel as Paula Hall, the child services agent who will stop at nothing to get Ricky back.

The mix of genres and tones works better here than in most of Waititi’s other works. It’s easier to blend the emotion of a young man’s first romantic feelings and the loss of a foster mother than it is to blend slapstick comedy and the holocaust. Weird conversations about The Terminator accentuated by the Kiwi accent make the film endlessly quotable and rewatchable.

That may be the key to why, ten years on, this film is still so fondly thought of. It feels like nothing else out there, and offers the viewer a film that is heavy on that goodwill. It’s a non-cynical movie, which felt out of fashion in 2016 and feels completely alien in 2026 as it lets Hec’s harder shell melt and gives Neill one of his juiciest roles in years. He’s the big name in the film, but allows Dennison to fully show off and create a name for himself as Ricky Baker. It’s that to-and-fro that helps the film soar.

With its anniversary re-release, Hunt for the Wilderpeople now stands as a touching reminder of the loss that Sam Neill is. A talented man who for decades worked across the US and New Zealand, making iconic characters and bringing his warmth and humour to every genre he went into. It might be that Wilderpeople is his finest work, and a great chance to remind ourselves why we once thought Waititi was a genius, and why we’ll always love Neill.

Happy Birthday Ricky Baker.

Ultra HD Blu-ray Special Features