There are precisely three things I know to be true:
1. Raw tomatoes must be eaten with a generous sprinkling of salt,
2. Showering at night is the most under-rated life hack, especially if you hate mornings, and
3. Hunters may just be one of the best TV series ever made.
The first two are important (thank me later) but it’s the third point I really need to talk about. After binging the 10-episode series in one weekend, it’s of the uttermost importance that everybody else does the same.
Watch the trailer for Amazon Prime Video’s Nazi fighting series, Hunters. Post continues below.
Hunters follows a group of New York Nazi hunters in the eclectic 1970s. After the suspicious murder of his grandma, Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman), is introduced to his late grandmother’s former love interest and fellow Holocaust survivor, Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino). From then he’s thrust into a world where a group of vigilante Nazi hunters plot to take out high-ranking Nazi officials who have snuck into the US and are conspiring to start a (fictional) Fourth Reich.
Among Meyer’s group is a Vietnamese war veteran (Louis Ozawa as Joe Torrance), a British nun who happens to be a former MI6 agent (Kate Mulvany as Sister Harriet) and How I Met Your Mother’s Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), who plays struggling Jewish actor, Lonny Flash.
The cast also boasts a number of other legendary actors including Lena Olin (Chocolat), Saul Rubinek (The Bonfire of the Vanities), Carol Kane (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and The Good Wife’s Dylan Baker, while welcoming newcomers like the unnerving Jonno Davies as Tobias, and Tiffany Boone as Roxy Jones. While it’s written by the relatively unknown David Weil – it’s actually his first writer and producer credit – film buffs will delight that it lists Jordan Peele (Us and Get Out) as one of its executive producers.
The endearing, diverse and captivating characters aside, Hunters is all about the plot, which will have you hooked in the first five minutes (yes, really). It's also bookended by two of the punchiest TV scenes I've seen in a long time. I won't spoil either of them for you but I'm still thinking about the cinematic brilliance of the final scene.
There's no doubt Hunters is political too. 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, anti-semitic attacks are once again rising, as is increasing awareness of race-fuelled police brutality and violence. But like Jonah's moral battle as he decides whether to join his grandmother's Nazi-slaughtering posse, Hunters asks us how we should respond to senseless hate, persecution and prejudice. Despite the heavy subject matter and occasional flashbacks to the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, the series is also peppered with moments of camaraderie and humour.
In short, you simply must find 10.5 hours in your schedule to watch this gift of a series.
Not convinced? Don't just take my word for it. Twitter is positively raving about the series too.
You can watch the entire first season of Hunters on Amazon Prime Video now.
Top Comments
Jessica, I 1000% agree. I binge-watched Hunters on the weekend and wow, just wow. From the first to the last minute I was hooked. I think I may even have to rewatch it this week. And I very rarely rewatch a series so soon, if ever. Season 2 cannot come soon enough.
And I have to add that I am utterly haunted by the Markowitz storyline. The way the family were ripped away from their home, the little fella being torn from his father's arms and then, and then, that train scene, followed by the dream sequence. I haven't cried that hard since watching Beaches in the 80's.
Then in the blink of an eye, you're laughing at something so ridiculously and sadistically funny as the rogue Nazi Hunter squad take revenge on some very deserving individual.
And for those who haven't watched it, I know it sounds like I'm giving away a lot of the storyline but this is one of so, so many. It's just the one that had the greatest impact on me.
HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend.