‘Hunting For Justice’ (2017) Short Film Review

Hunting For Justice is a short film from Sick & Twisted Cinema’s Thomas Smith, who also worked on the special effects and helped produce Drew Pizzo’s film, Back Road (read my review here). I’m not usually one for short films, as they always feel like they end right as things start picking up, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to check out Hunting For Justice. I was impressed with Pizzo and Smith’s work on Back Road, so I was confident that this film would stand out from the crowd. So, how did it do?

First, let’s take a look at what Hunting For Justice is about. Smith described that the film as being all about a grief-stricken father and son who embark on a hunting trip together, only to become victims of a cowardly accident. When the legal system fails, justice is served with a vengeance.

Often times, it seems like short films have messages and plots, but they never quite explore everything that they want to. That’s not the case with Hunting for Justice. The plot is simple, sure, but the filmmakers do a great job of telling the story. The pacing is really what does it. This film is around 25 minutes long, and never feels rushed or dragged out. It takes its time telling the story, and picks up the pace when necessary.

The acting in Hunting For Justice is very good, with no none of the cast members sticking out with a poor performance. A special shout out needs to go to Back Road’s Mike Sutton, who steals the show with his performance as Bob Ross, the main antagonist of the film. The range of emotions that he shows is impressive, going from calm and collected to unhinged and panicked. A real bright spot in this gem of a short film.

My only real complaint is that the lighting is quite dark at times, but it’s not enough to detract from the film. That’s how impressed I am with Hunting For Justice. This is a testament to the fantastic job that the entire cast and crew did with this film.

When speaking with Thomas Smith, he had this to say about the production:

“If it wasn’t for an amazing cast and crew, and the support from my wife, Patricia, it would not have come out the way it did.”

I’m happy that it came out the way it did, because this Hunting For Justice has rocketed to the top of my favorite short films.

I know this review is overwhelmingly positive, and not quite critical, but that’s because it’s hard to pick apart something that does so much right. From perfect pacing to a talented cast – headlined by a great performance by Mike Sutton – Hunting for Justice just does a lot of things right. If you get a chance to check this out, do so. There’s worse ways to spend 25 minutes, that’s for sure. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think!