Hunt for the Wilderpeople is full of magical \u2013 or \u201cmajestical<\/a>\u201d \u2013 moments just like this. Bringing together city kid Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) and grizzled hunter Uncle Hector (Sam Neill), the adaptation of Barry Crump novel Wild Pork and Watercress follows the unlikely duo\u2019s misadventures as they flee authorities into the unforgiving New Zealand bush. Celebrating its 10th birthday this week, Wilderpeople remains the highest-grossing local film of all time (cultural abundance alert: 2016 also saw the longest-running number one local single of all time in Kings\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t Worry \u2018Bout It\u2019).<\/p>\n Rewatching the film a decade on, it\u2019s clear why Wilderpeople still holds that record. There\u2019s Dennison\u2019s star-making turn as the petulant, chatty, Tupac-loving Ricky Baker, the perfect foil for Sam Neill\u2019s gruff man of few words. \u201cIs there anything you want me to do?\u201d Ricky asks. \u201cYeah, leave me alone,\u201d growls Hector at a Speights ad register. It\u2019s a tricky request once they go bush together, exchanging vital knowledge around the campfire (Hec teaches Ricky about \u201cthe knack\u201d and Ricky teaches him about skux<\/a> \u2013 \u201ccool, spunky, brainy, good-looking, gangster\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not the only duo worth a mention here. Paula Hall (Rachel House) from child services and Officer Andy Tabbott (Oscar Kightley) are one of the funniest pairings in New Zealand film history. House plays Paula as hellbent and borderline psychopathic in her mission to bring Ricky back into state care. \u201cHe\u2019s the spanner in the works, and I am the mechanic who is going to put him back in the toolbox,\u201d she tells the media. Unfortunately, Kightley\u2019s Tabbott is not up to the job. \u201cSomething definitely happened,\u201d he says of a crime scene. \u201cBut I\u2019m wondering what.\u201d<\/p>\n While these two are responsible for the biggest laughs, including the immortal insult \u201cyou\u2019re like Sarah Connor \u2013 and in the first movie, before she could do chin-ups,\u201d they also subvert any sense of authority and establishment. On the rewatch I was struck by Ricky\u2019s recollections of state care, including \u201cexperiments at the boy\u2019s home\u201d and his friend who died after speaking up. In the wake of the Royal Commission of Inquiry, there\u2019s a breathtaking honesty and darkness in these moments \u2013 even more so when you consider they are nestled in a family-friendly comedy.\u00a0<\/p>\nOscar Kightley and Rachel House in Hunt for the Wilderpeople.<\/p>\n