Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a 2016 New Zealand adventure comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititiwho co-produced with Carthew Neal, Leanne Saunders and Matt Noonan, based on the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump. The film stars Sam Neill and Julian Dennison as a father figure and son who become caught in a manhunt.

The film premiered In Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on 22 January 2016. The film opened New Zealand wide on 31 March 2016. The film received a limited North American release on 24 June 2016.

Plot

Ricky Baker (Dennison), a juvenile delinquent who was abandoned by his mother, is taken by child welfare services officer Paula and police officer Andy to live in a remote farm with foster mother Bella and her husband, the cantankerous Hec (Neill). Hec is remote, but Bella quickly manages to break through Ricky's defensive shell by taking him hunting and offering him a puppy for his birthday, which he names Tupac after his idol Tupac Shakur.

When Bella suddenly passes away and Hec tells Ricky that child services will take him back, Ricky ineptly fakes his suicide by burning a barn and runs away into the bush, where is is completely unable to cope and gets lost. Hec finds him easily but injures his leg in a fall, forcing the two to camp for a period of time. The authorities meanwhile have found the house empty and the barn burnt down, and come to the conclusion that the bereaved and mentally unstable Hec has abducted Ricky. The impression is strenghtened after an encounter with three foolish rangers who get the idea that Hec is abusing Ricky sexually. Hec reveals to Ricky that he has served prison time for manslaughter and is illiterate. Ricky in turn says his only friend in care has died and that he will not return into the system. The pair agree to disappear into the bush.

A national manhunt ensues, and the two slowly bond while working together to escape arrest. They scatter Bella's ashes into a remote lake as per her wishes. After four months of surviving in the wilderness and several close calls, they are finally caught following a car and helicopter chase and Ricky accidentally shoots Hec in the buttock. Hec gets remanded and Ricky is taken in by a kind family he met while on the run. After Hec's release from jail, Ricky, with his new foster family's permission, returns to the bush with Hec to photograph the huia, an extinct bird which they had re-discovered on their time on the run.

 From Wikepedia