Make sure you see Thomas Vinterberg’s ‘The Hunt’ (12), a remarkable tale about the power of a rumour. Vinterberg invites the audience to experience first hand what it feels like to be falsely accused of a crime and to witness one man’s descent into madness.

Mads Mikkelsen plays Lucas, an energetic male daycare assistant who is as young at heart as the kids he helps. He lives a simple life, in a small town where his hunting buddies and dog are all he has. Lucas is recently divorced and is looking to reconnect with his son. In the absence of his family Lucas becomes closer to Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) a young girl at the daycare and his best friend Theo’s (Thomas Bo Larsen) daughter.

Klara is a cute eight-year old girl with quite an imagination. Klara tries to share her affection towards Lucas with an innocent kiss on the lips. When Lucas tells her that her actions are not appropriate, Klara sets out for revenge and sends his world into a tail spin. Klara tells Lucas’ boss that he sexually abused her.

The innocence of a child is something hard to ignore or mistrust. When Lucas’ community takes Klara’s word over his own, his life begins to collapse. Mikkelsen’s performance is masterful as we see his wholesome character begin to fall apart. How can you convince the world you didn’t commit a crime when a child says you have? Lucas’ integrity, trust, friendship and livelihood hang in the balance ofKlara’s accusation.

‘The Hunt’ (12) is a frustrating, heart wrenching, scary and controversial film and I was on the edge of my seat while watching it. At a running time of 111 minutes the film flies by as Mikkelsen puts you in a trance. He has already claimed the Best Actor prize at Cannes for his performance here and it is no wonder. He is truly breathtaking in this film.

This will be an academy award contender and Vinterberg has made a bold statement. The only question that remains: is Klara telling the truth? Watch and find out. Hope you enjoy my first TIFF 2012 review. GO SEE THIS FILM.

The Hunt has now made the short list as one of the 5 71st Golden Globes Foreign Film nominees for 2014.

-Chris Murphy