''The Hunting'' is an Australian

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

series starring

Asher Keddie Asher Keddie (born 31 July 1974) is an Australian actress. Beginning her career in the television series '' Five Mile Creek'' in the mid 1980s, Keddie received wide recognition for her role in the television series ''Offspring''. Her significan ...

and

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

, screening on SBS TV and SBS on Demand on 1 August 2019. The four-part

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

was created by

Sophie Hyde Sophie Hyde is an Australian film director, writer and producer based in Adelaide, South Australia. She is co-founder of Closer Productions and known for her award-winning debut fiction film, '' 52 Tuesdays'' (2013) and the comedy drama ''Anim ...

and Matthew Cormack at

Closer Productions Closer Productions is a film and television production company founded by filmmakers Sophie Hyde and Bryan Mason in Adelaide, South Australia, in January 2004. It is known for award-winning feature films such as ''52 Tuesdays'' (2013) and ''Ani ...

, and co-directed by

Ana Kokkinos Ana Kokkinos is an Australian film and television director and screenwriter of Greek descent. She is known for her breakthrough feature film, '' Head On'' (1998), and has also directed television shows such as ''The Secret Life of Us'' and '' ...

Plot

''The Hunting'' tells the story of two

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

teachers who discover that students are sharing sexually explicit photos of their

under-age In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...

friends and peers online. The revelation has consequences for four teenagers, their teachers and families in modern, multicultural Australia.

Cast

as Simone *

as Nick * Sam Reid as Ray *

Jessica De Gouw Jessica Elise De Gouw (born 15 February 1988) is an Australian actress. She is known for her role as Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress in the television series '' Arrow'', as Mina Murray in the NBC TV series '' Dracula'', and as Elizabeth Hawkes ...

as Eliza * Luca Sardelis as Zoe * Yazeed Daher as Nassim *

Pamela Rabe Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname *Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

as Principal De Rossi *

Leah Vandenberg Leah Vandenberg is a New Zealand-born Australian theatre, television, and film actress. She has appeared in many well-known Australian productions including the award-winning Netflix series ' The Letdown' and SBS Drama ' The Hunting'. Leah rece ...

as Ravneet * Rodney Afif as Rami *

Sachin Joab Sachin Joab is an Australian actor. He took an interest in acting during primary school and attended various acting schools and workshops. Since graduating from the National Theatre, Joab has appeared in several films and television, including ...

as Sandeep * Elena Carapetis as Amanda *

Nathan Page Nathan Page (born 25 August 1971) is an Australian actor, best known for his commercial voice-over work and his role as Detective Inspector Jack Robinson in ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries''. Early life Page grew up in an Air Force family ...

as Sam * James Lea as Background Artist * Kavitha Anandasivam as Amandip "Dip" * Joe Romeo as Marto * Alex Cusack as Andy * Jahanvi Bhardwaj as Josephine * Isabel Burmester as Rosie * Harrison Evans as Ozzy * Connor Pullinger as Oliver * Samuel Mazraeh as Ben * Lian Takayidza as Ariel

Episodes

Themes

''The Hunting'' tackles themes of

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced ...

, privacy, sexuality, online exploitation, sexualisation,

toxic masculinity Toxic masculinity is a set of certain male behaviors associated with harm to society and men themselves. Traditional stereotypes of men as socially dominant, along with related traits such as misogyny and homophobia, can be considered "toxic" d ...

, gender and

cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...

. Producer/director Sophie Hyde said that the film would explore how teens use technology "within sexual context and reframe the conversation to be about trust and consent, considering how we are culturally responsible".

Production

Originally titled ''The Hunt'', funding for the series by

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

was announced in July 2018. The four-part mini-series was written by Matthew Cormack and Niki Aken, and directed by Ana Kokkinos and Sophie Hyde. Produced by Rebecca Summerton, Sophie Hyde (both of Closer Productions) and Lisa Scott (of Highview Productions), it screened on SBS TV and on

SBS On Demand SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowest ...

from 1 August 2019. Production by the

team started in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, on 18 January 2019. Additional funding was provided by the

South Australian Film Corporation South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...

and SBS.

Adelaide High School Adelaide High School is a coeducational state high school situated on the corner of West Terrace and Glover Avenue in the Adelaide Parklands. Following the Advanced School for Girls, it was the second government high school in South Australia ...

was used as a location setting.

Reception

The series had an overwhelmingly positive response, and became the highest-rated TV drama series commissioned by SBS. Luke Buckmaster, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', called the series a "very compelling, tense and prickly drama", praising the whole cast and the script, which "hangs together impressively, with admirable depth and nuance". Wenlei Ma wrote in

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

that it addressed the important question "Why isn’t anyone talking about the boys?", and that the series was "wonderfully written..., incredibly tense and the performances are excellent". Craig Mathieson titled his review in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'': "Forget Home and Away, Australian TV needs more of this teen drama". Chris Boyd wrote in Screenhub: ''The Hunting'' is an extremely rare event in Australian television history. The power and topicality of the story are more than matched by the quality of the writing and craft of the production. It's as hot and urgent as it is considered".

References

External links

''The Hunting''
on

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunting, The 2019 Australian television series debuts 2019 Australian television series endings Australian drama television series English-language television shows Special Broadcasting Service original programming Television series about educators Television shows set in Adelaide