The Big Picture

Sam Neill’s role as Uncle Hec in Hunt for the Wilderpeople showcases his emotional range and versatility beyond his iconic character of Alan Grant from Jurassic Park. The relationship between Uncle Hec and Ricky Baker, played by Julian Dennison, drives the narrative of the movie and highlights their chemistry and connection. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a heartwarming story about two individuals who don’t fit societal norms but find solace and understanding in each other during their adventure together.

It’s difficult to think of Sam Neill and not immediately picture him in his paleontologist attire from Jurassic Park. The movie and the part are just so iconic that he and Dr. Alan Grant sort of blend together at this point. But there’s much more to Neill’s career and range than running from dinosaurs. One of his best roles, in fact, is a highly emotional one, that might not seem all that different from Alan Grant, but couldn’t be further. We’re talking about Hector Faulkner, or simply “Uncle Hec” in Taika Waititi’s 2016 classic Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

The movie is an adaptation of a book by Barry Crump, Wild Pork and Watercress, and, as usual, Waititi gives it a lot of his own spin. The main character is the now-legendary Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison), a tween who’s been constantly let down by New Zealand’s foster care system and, as a result, grows angry at the world for it. He also has no luck, because, when he finally gets adopted by the weird, but loving Bella (Rima Te Wiata), she dies shortly after, leaving him to be adopted by yet another family, as her husband, Hec, doesn’t care about anything but hunting. To break the cycle, he tries to fake his own death but instead sparks a manhunt for him and Hec throughout the country.

Related: ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Is Taika Waititi at His Best, Thanks to Stu

What Is ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ About?
Image via Defender Films

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is Taika Waititi’s last movie before he joined the MCU with Thor: Ragnarök. Back then, he was still mostly known for another comedy, What We Do in the Shadows, and for his deeply personal, emotional, and silly films, especially the semi-autobiographical Boy. Wilderpeople follows this trend, working almost like a tale or bedtime story turned into a movie, to best convey his narrative and aesthetic style.

The movie is centered on Ricky Baker and his feeling of being let down by every grown-up he’s ever known, but it’s really about connection maturing. His relationship with Hec is what really drives the narrative, and Sam Neill and Julian Dennison have such chemistry that the movie could very well just follow them wandering the woods in New Zealand and it would already be good enough, as they constantly pick on one another and discover weird people living off the grid. In a way, that’s how they both want to carry on with their lives and adjusting to the “real world” is the actual challenge.

One of the most touching scenes is precisely about their discontent with what society expects of them, as well as what they want from life. While spending the night in a cabin in the woods, Ricky is writing his haikus, which he learned in the foster care system as a way of expressing his feelings. Usually, he writes about random stuff and even tries to speak in haiku to try and make himself understood by everyone around him, but he doesn’t want to show this particular haiku to Hec because he thinks it’s silly: “Trees, birds, rivers, sky. Running with my uncle Hec. Living forever.” As simple as can be, this poem summarizes what both of them really feel. Gradually, Ricky finds people can like him, despite what the foster service officers keep telling him, and Hec is the first push in that direction.

The Differences Between Uncle Hec May and Alan Grant
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When you think of a grumpy man who lives by himself and has a tough time dealing with kids, we could be describing either Uncle Hec or Alan Grant. They even dress somewhat similarly, with hats, button-up shirts, and boots! For all we know, Hec could very well be an older version of Grant, but these two couldn’t be further apart, actually — and it’s not just about the lack of dinosaurs in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Both roles are indeed somewhat similar, but it’s with Hec that Sam Neill gets to truly show emotional range and versatility, as Hec’s stern shell slowly melts away due to his relationship with Ricky.

When we meet Hec, he’s married to Bella, who provides the only balance to the grumpiness he has, and the only thing keeping him attached to society in a general way. Deep down, he’s just as damaged and marginalized as Ricky, someone who had no support growing up and whose set of skills doesn’t really fit with the needs of society anymore. We may imagine a paleontologist to be the same, but Grant is also an academic, so there’s a difference. For Hec, life is the way it is because he didn’t grow up. He didn’t go through many of the steps people usually go through, life studying or becoming a parent. He just ventured into the wild and learned what it has to offer, and that’s what life is about for him.

Sam Neill’s Best Role to Date
Image via Defender Films

Neill does a great job of portraying such a complex character that says so much with so few words. He may appear old on the outside, but the adolescent approach of “leave me alone” is his modus operandi. At first, we may even think he may be ultra-conservative because that’s the general stereotype for his kind of character (an old farmer who lives in the middle of nowhere and likes to hunt and live off the grid). But that’s the last thing he shows to be, and it’s great to see Neill peel back the layers of the character. His chemistry with Dennison is the cornerstone of the movie, and the two of them have a natural synchrony to their relationship that Alan Grant would only dream of having with the kids in Jurassic Park.

The story of Hunt for the Wilderpeople is so beautiful because, ultimately, it’s about a relationship between two 12-year-olds, so to speak (as Neill himself says in a 2016 interview with Collider). Except, one is an old man who had no way of growing up, while another is an actual pre-teen child. Each of them decides to live society behind in their own way after Bella dies, and it’s fateful that they would end up meeting each other and running away together while the whole country looks for them — the world has a way of fighting those who don’t fit. Ricky may have run away from the farm where he was to live, but he’s not really lost, as Uncle Hec is with him. Those two share a lot, and it’s in their adventure together that they find the missing pieces of themselves in each other.