''The Hunting'' is an Australian

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

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 was created by Sophie Hyde and Matthew Cormack at Closer Productions, and co-directed by Ana Kokkinos.

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 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 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 as Ravneet * Rodney Afif as Rami * Sachin Joab as Sandeep * Elena Carapetis as Amanda * Nathan Page as Sam * James Lea as Background Artist *

Kavitha Anandasivam Kavitha Anandasivam is a Sri Lankan Australian actress, known for starring in SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS's 2019 mini-series, ''The Hunting''. In 2019, the Casting Guild of Australia named her among their 10 "Rising Stars" to watch. She appe ...

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 practice ...

, 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 Closer Productions team started in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, on 18 January 2019. Additional funding was provided by the South Australian Film Corporation 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 Australi ...

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. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 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 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 2010s Australian drama television series Australian English-language television shows Special Broadcasting Service original programming Television series about educators Television shows set in Adelaide