''The Hunter's Prayer'' is a 2017 action

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Jonathan Mostow Jonathan Mostow (born November 28, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed films such as '' Breakdown'' (1997), '' U-571'' (2000), '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'' (2003), and ''Surrogates'' (2009). ...

, based on the 2004 novel ''For the Dogs'' by Kevin Wignall. The film tells about a conflicted hitman helping a young woman to avenge the death of her family. The film stars Sam Worthington, Odeya Rush,

Allen Leech Allen Leech (born 18 May 1981) is an Irish actor. He is widely known for his roles as Tom Branson in the ITV period drama ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015) and Paul Prenter in the biopic ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (2018). Leech made his professiona ...

, and

Amy Landecker Amy Lauren Landecker (born September 30, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Sarah Pfefferman on the Amazon Prime Video, Amazon comedy-drama series ''Transparent (TV series), Transparent'' (2014–2019), as well as her supp ...

. Filming began on August 12, 2014, in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The film had its theatrical release on June 9, 2017, in the United States by

Saban Films Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment company based in Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the ...

Plot

Lucas ( Sam Worthington), a drug-addicted former soldier, is in a club looking for Ella Hatto ( Odeya Rush). She is attending

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

in Switzerland. Ella sees Lucas watching her and thinks he has been hired by her father to protect her. Unbeknownst to Ella, her father was preparing to tell the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

about Richard Addison's (

) illegal operations and also stole 25 million dollars from him. Her father and step-mother have been murdered by a hired killer. Addison's gunmen try to kill Ella at the nightclub, but Lucas kills one and helps her escape. He receives a text threatening to kill his family if he doesn't kill Ella. He takes her across the French border. Lucas calls Addison and he threatens to kill his estranged wife and daughter. Lucas tells Ella that her father was killed. At a grocery store, they are attacked by Addison's gunmen and Lucas gets shot in the leg. The two get on a train, where they meet Dani ( Verónica Echegui), another contract killer. After treating Lucas's wounds, Dani makes Ella leave Lucas. Ella gets off the train, but Metzger ( Martin Compston), an assassin who had killed Ella's father, tries to kill her. Lucas protects Ella. While Lucas recovers from drug

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, Ella takes his gun and goes to Addison's office building, but she gets arrested by the police. Banks (

), an FBI agent working for Addison, takes Ella to Addison's house. At that time, Lucas is attacked by Dani and her colleague killer. He kills them and goes to Addison's house. In a final shootout, Lucas kills Banks and Addison shoots Metzger. As Addison is about to shoot Lucas, he is shot dead by Ella. Ella receives a phone call from Lucas. Ella tells Lucas that she is now living with her aunt and cousins. The two say farewell to each other. Lucas visits a house, where his wife and daughter are waiting to welcome him.

Cast

* Sam Worthington as Stephen Lucas * Odeya Rush as Ella Hatto *

as Richard Addison *

as Gina Banks * Martin Compston as Metzger * Verónica Echegui as Dani * Gabrielle Mostow as Jillian * Shayne Drummond as Teresa

Production

On January 30, 2013, it was announced that Sam Worthington would star lead as a hitman who helps a young girl to avenge the murder of her parents and brother, the film ''For the Dogs'', based on Kevin Wignall's novel of same name, scripted by Paul Leyden and Oren Moverman was re-writing the script at that time.

Phillip Noyce Phillip Roger Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet Amer ...

was set to direct the film, which Anthony Rhulen and Navid McIlhargey would produce through FilmEngine Entertainment, along with Worthington, John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz through their Full Clip Productions, with Leyden. On May 13,

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She had her breakthrough with the western film ''True Grit (2010 film), True Grit'' (2010), which earned her List of awards and nominations received by H ...

was added to the cast to play the young girl whose parents and brother are murdered. On November 8, the ensemble cast was announced which includes Martin Compston,

and Verónica Echegui. Sierra/Affinity announced that they had sold the film to twenty international buyers.

Filming

Filming began in early November 2014 in

(

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

Helmsley Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale of Pickering. Helmsley is ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

and

Saltaire Saltaire is a Victorian model village near Shipley, West Yorkshire, England, situated between the River Aire, the railway, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Salts Mill and the houses were built by Titus Salt between 1851 and 1871 to allo ...

). It would also be shot in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, U.S. (

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Release

In September 2016,

acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released in the United States on June 9, 2017.

Reception

''The Hunter's Prayer'' received poor reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 29% based on 21 reviews, and an average rating of 4.9/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score 35 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "unfavorable reviews". Derek Smith of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, writing, "''The Hunter's Prayer'' is steadfastly concise and efficient, foregrounding action above expositional groundwork."

Joe Leydon Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon (born August 22, 1952) is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for '' Variety'' since 1990, he is the author of ''Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See'' (Michael Wiese Pro ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, "Director Jonathan Mostow (''Terminator 3'') provides enough hairbreadth escapes, extended shootouts, crash-and-dash auto chases, and hand-to-hand combat sequences to make the movie modestly diverting for undemanding audiences." Justin Lowe of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' said, "The action falters a bit when attention shifts to the rocky relationship between Lucas and Ella, but cinematographer Jose David Montero and editor Ken Blackwell succeed in getting things back on track with a consistent succession of energetic chase and fight scenes."

References

External links

*
Interview with author Kevin Wignall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter's Prayer, The 2017 films 2017 action thriller films 2017 crime action films American action thriller films German action thriller films Spanish action thriller films English-language German films English-language Spanish films Films about assassinations Films about drugs Films set in Westchester County, New York Films set in Switzerland Films set in France Films set in Leeds Scarborough, North Yorkshire Films shot in England Films shot in Switzerland Films shot in New York City Films shot in Scarborough Films shot in North Yorkshire Films shot in Germany Films shot in Hungary Films shot in Spain Films directed by Jonathan Mostow Films scored by Federico Jusid 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s German films Films with screenplays by John Brancato and Michael Ferris Films about contract killing English-language crime action films English-language action thriller films