The Hunt (2012)

Thomas Vinterberg stacks the deck a little. The police and lawyers mostly happen offscreen, and nearly every adult in town believes the worst almost overnight, which is the one part of The Hunt that can feel less than real. Everything else is painfully true. Mads Mikkelsen plays Lucas as a gentle, ordinary man who keeps trying to stay polite while his whole life is taken from him, and that politeness is the hardest thing to watch. Thomas Bo Larsen is just as good as Theo, a father caught between his daughter and his oldest friend. A grocery store errand and a Christmas Eve church service turn into two of the tensest scenes of the decade. It made only $15.9 million worldwide, but 420,671 IMDb ratings average an 8.3, so word got around. A 9.1 because it’s the most honest movie I know about how fast a community can decide who you are. $133 says you think twice before you repeat the next rumor you hear.

What works: Mads Mikkelsen’s restrained, heartbreaking performance and a script that shows exactly how fear spreads through a close community, one conversation at a time.

What doesn’t: The legal side stays mostly offscreen, so how fast the whole town turns can feel a little stacked to make the point.

Who it’s for: Viewers ready for a serious, quietly devastating drama who want something to talk about for days afterward.