AV : The Hunt - FrightFest 2020

Lovers entwine in an illicit affair but in a culture that is getting ever more patriarchal and ideologically led, it’s dangerous. Ayse (Billur Melis Koç) barely escapes with her life as she is caught with her lover. He is murdered she escapes with a debilitating leg injury. Her leaving her husband is the scandal of the town and there are few people she can rely on for help. Her sister won’t talk to her but she has a friend who will help her if limited.

Her only recourse is to return to the family home to steal money and then make her way to Istanbul. She finds money and while making her way out she bumps into her brother Ahmet (Adam Bay) who raises the alarm.

Stealing a car and now on the run Ayse is stopped by the police. Not having the correct documents her keys are confiscated and there’s a tense period during which the police make some calls. Questioned by the senior policeman he begins to talk about family and how fathers are protective and in particular towards daughters. It’s a ruse as she has been shopped to her family who arrive en masse.

Evading them and stealing a police car she makes off with the collection of family members, husband and others chasing. Crashing the car Ayse heads into a forest badly injured. The family catch up and loaded up with the weapons in the police car begin to hunt down Ayse. A rag tag of men with tensions high fuelled on rage they start to quarrel amongst themselves leading to murder and lies, and Ayse starts to gain the upper hand.

The chase continues through the night Ayse with no food or water, in pain and with not many bullets in the gun she managed to take a youngster; little more than a boy and starting to fully register what he has got himself into. A confrontation with her ex-husband Sedat (Ahmet Rifat Sunger) where he attempts to rape her, forces Ayse to take defensive action. Ayse escapes the forest and find herself at a petrol station come bus stop. Looking for a lift to Istanbul she encounters other prejudices that while not physical are no less pernicious.

AV The Hunt as well as being an excellent thriller is a devastating comment on the so-called honour killings and the direction that Turkey is perceived to be heading. Director Emre Akay (who co-wrote with Deniz Cuylan) doesn’t shy from images of base masculinity with a testosterone driven martial arts class taken under the Turkish flag and image of the country’s leader. Or the subtle and not subtle comments when Ayse is rebuked at the petrol station for being a woman out on her own at night and a more violent reaction from a male passenger who demands to know why a woman is sitting next to him when she takes her seat and is then forced out having been conned by the bus driver.

The message is underscored on a technical level by Akay’s skilful direction, superb photography by Savas Ertan and a carefully arranged and pitched score from Brian Bender and Deniz Cuylan. Mellis Koç in the lead role is sublime as the character faces murderous misogyny with an inner strength to fight for her survival and still find some place in her heart for some of her aggressors. The film’s success is that it combines serious social and political issues with the dynamics required for a first-class thriller with barely a jolt.

While not exactly a companion piece AV: The Hunt is well worth watching in conjunction with Denize Gamze Ergüven’s outstanding Mustang from 2015 which delves into similar issues of misogyny and patriarchy.