Ever since Henry Cavill debuted as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, the actor has been one of the go-to-action stars of our time. Films like Mission: Impossible – Fallout, The Man From U.N.C.L.E and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare have only cemented that label further. However, one of Cavill’s more unknown action thrillers to come out in the last decade has been Night Hunter. The 2019 film barely made a dent at the box office, but Night Hunter appears to be finding new life on various streaming platforms.
What’s ‘Night Hunter’ About?
Image via Falcon FilmsFollowing the template set up by genre classics like Se7en, Night Hunter follows a detective, Walter Marshall (Cavill), as he’s on the hunt for a deadly serial killer (Ben Kingsley). A killer that’s usually two steps ahead of him. While Cavill’s star power was big at the time, the film chose to do a hybrid model (paid VOD in America and a theatrical debut internationally) when it had its wide release in 2019. This was a bit before the pandemic made that style more popular. However, the quality of the film was most likely the reason for that strategy, as Night Hunter has an abysmal 14% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film made barely over $1 million at the international box office. The audience rating is better though, with a split 50%. That might have something to do with the film’s streaming resurgence. Besides Cavill and Kingsley, Night Hunter has a great cast featuring Alexandra Daddario (Percy Jackson), Stanley Tucci (Hunger Games), Minka Kelly (Titans) and Nathan Fillion (Superman). These are all actors with massive fanbases. It also helps that Cavill’s beautifully grizzled face is front and center on the poster. This could have swayed potential viewers to give it a chance. Whatever the case may be in why Night Hunter is doing so well on streaming, it’s just nice to see a smaller action thriller get a second chance at life.
Hunting a Serial Killer…at Night!
While Night Hunter isn’t on a traditional streaming service in the United States at the moment, you can rent the film on VOD platforms like Fandango at Home for $3.99 USD. The trailer can be viewed below.