Hunters Prayer

Plot

Lucas (Sam Worthington), a former soldier, currently serves as a contract killer. He is hired to kill Ella Hatto (Odeya Rush), whose father stole money from Richard Addison (Allen Leech). However, Lucas decides not to kill Ella. He instead tries to protect her from Addison.

Cast

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

Filming

Filming began in early November 2014 in Yorkshire, England (Leeds, Harrogate, Helmsley, Scarborough and Saltaire). It would also be shot in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, U.S. (New York City) and Hungary.

Release

In September 2016, Saban Films acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released in the United States on June 9, 2017.

Reception

The Hunter's Prayer received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 41% based on 17 reviews, and an average rating of 5/10. On Metacritic, 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 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 of Variety 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 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."