13 Awesome Summer Movies You Probably Missed
7. Hunt For The Wilderpeople
The Plot: Young city kid Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is sent to live with new foster parents Aunt Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and the surly Uncle Hec (Sam Neill).
However, Bella soon dies of a heart attack, causing Ricky to run away with Hec giving chase, which the local authorities interpret as Hec kidnapping the child, leading to an epic manhunt.
Why It's Awesome: Writer-director Taika Waititi continues to prove himself a gemstone of modern comedy with this uproariously sweet and funny follow-up to his outrageous vampire mock-doc What We Do in the Shadows.
The Wes Anderson vibe is strong in this touching coming-of-age yarn that manages to be both silly and resonant all at once. The two central performances are marvelous, and Neill has really been deserving of a meaty part like this for quite some time.
It'll also be interesting to see how Waititi graduates from fairly low-budget fare such as this to the monstrous budget he's been given for the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok.