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Its release was canceled last September following right-wing media outcry, criticism over the violence it depicted in the aftermath of two mass shootings, and some tweets from President Trump. But now, it seems, The Hunt is back.

The satirical social thriller, as Universal Pictures characterized the film in a statement last fall, has a new trailer and a release date: March 13, or Friday the 13th, as the trailer proclaims. The latest marketing leans all the way into the controversy: The most talked-about movie of the year is one nobodys seen yet! the text proclaims. (Technically its the most talked-about movie of last year, but time is a construct.)

The footage in the trailer doesnt avoid the political underpinnings that people claimed would be present in the film, and its dialogue seems bent on evoking both ends of the political spectrum; its a political movie, but not an obviously partisan one. Early on, the premise appears to be that liberal elites hunt regular people for sport. Soon, buzzwords start popping up. Dont First Amendment me! one character says. Im playing an Arab refugee, but I identify as white, another character says later on. I think thats problematic, in some way.

But the trailers grander aim seems to be skewering the reactions the movie elicited in September, maybe more than advertising the movie itself. It wasnt real, a character played by Hilary Swank insists, which could be taken as a statement about the characters hunting one another, but also about the idea that a movie would simply present liberal elites hunting red-staters without irony or a twist. As if to underline that statement, later, in voiceover, we hear, We were joking!

And to anyone who follows entertainment news whos thinking about The Hunt in good faith, it was always clear that the elites-hunting-regular-people setup would ultimately involve some sort of upending reveal. The film was co-written by the famously twisty (and unusually nuanced) Damon Lindelof, whos still best known for Lost but whose most recent project, HBOs Watchmen, steered far away from easy political stereotyping.

And yet, as the trailer swipes sideways at the reactionaries, it also hints that something more is going on in the story than its currently willing to disclose. At one point, Hilary Swank sneers at Betty Gilpin, one of the regular people. You actually believed we were hunting human beings for sport, Swank says.

But ... you are, Gilpin responds. And Swank merely smiles.

So whats actually going on?

Its always a bad idea to judge a film by its trailer. But Universal screened The Hunt for a few writers before the new trailer dropped, and judging by comments theyve made Scott Mendelson wrote at Forbes that its a harmless exploitation action-comedy its a relatively decent representation of the film. The trailer sells The Hunt as an irreverent, somewhat campy horror-thriller, the kind of movie were used to seeing from its studio Blumhouse Productions, which also produced Get Out, Happy Death Day, and Ma, among others. I havent seen The Hunt yet, but Ive heard through the grapevine that it more or less tries to play to both sides of the political divide.

Yet the trailer is also trying to sell The Hunt as a dare to moviegoers, using the movies bad press and delayed release to attract audiences not so much on the merits of its story as on the idea that it will make somebody mad if you go see The Hunt. Who will get mad? Its hard to say. Maybe the right-wing media pundits and the president, who said they were upset about a movie they claimed would inspire violence against conservatives, ordinary people in the American heartland. Or maybe the people who will get mad are smug liberals, who were upset about the films release being pulled, or who will be surprised to see the tables turned on them. Or maybe critics will get mad, if they end up not liking the film.

But who cares if youre owning the libs or owning Laura Ingraham? In 2020, the national mood seems to be that whats really important is somebody gets owned, and that its not you.

And in that kind of climate, The Hunts style of marketing seems inevitable in it borrows tactics from partisan product-peddling and political fundraising. One could argue that Joker benefited from some of the same sentiment, with people going to see it not only because they wanted to see a movie about a popular comic book character but also because doing so was some kind of a statement. The John Travolta-starring Gotti issued a similar challenge in 2018 by darkly warning that critics dont want you to see it and the question is why?? (The answer is it sucks, but by all means, knock yourself out.) Christian movies have used similar marketing tactics for years, telling potential viewers that seeing their movie would send a message to Hollywood.

Of course, nobody is going to get owned if you go see The Hunt. Youll be giving money to Universal Pictures, and the studio will have a good opening weekend. Its Hollywood, ultimately, that will win.

But its a smart move on Universals part to capitalize on a months-old controversy to get you to pony up to see the film. The right-wing pundits and Trump tweets just amounted to free advertising for the film, which many people now have actually heard of and might go see. The cancellation of The Hunts release was never going to be permanent. Through protesting the film, its would-be detractors turned it into a potential cultural phenomenon a headline rather than a footnote.

Which The Hunts marketers know full well. Near the end of the new trailer, Swank smirks slightly. You wanted it to be real, she says. So, you decided it was.

The Hunt opens in theaters on March 13.

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The Hunt movie trailer dares you to own the libs or the right wing - Vox.com