THE HUNTERS

From the shocking opening sequence – the slaughter of several wild reindeer – to a hair-trigger climax, THE HUNTERS aims for maximum impact. After a 20-year absence, Erik Backstrom returns to his boyhood village in the North of Sweden. A former Stockholm policeman, once gravely wounded in the line of duty, Backstrom receives a hero's welcome from the community – at first. His cop instincts take note that several unemployed idlers seem to enjoy lavish lifestyle; not coincidentally, deer are being shot out of season by a high-tech gang of poachers. Erik investigates, and uncovers a longstanding conspiracy that reaches from the ranks of the local constabulary to members of his own family. Juxtaposing the widescreen beauty of the Scandinavian forests with a sense of paranoia and pervasive corruption, this is no ordinary crime thriller but a haunting panorama of guilt, duplicity, and the ultimate dread of many an exile that the home they revisit will be different, dark, and dangerous. In Swedish with English subtitles. -Charles Cassady