Hunt for the Wilderpeople

..a deliciously good time at the movies ... finally, what makes Wilderpeople memorable is how attached audiences become to the characters, and as played by Dennison and Neill, they are two fully realized, full of flaws but nonetheless oh-so loveable human beings.

– Boyd van Hoeij in a Hollywood Reporter review of the film, 23 January 2016

...[the film's] stealth weapon is [Sam] Neill, whose typical canny underplaying complements everyone else’s broader notes while lending both the comic and dramatic elements extra ballast.

– Variety reviewer Dennis Harvey on Sam Neill, 23 January 2016

[Taika] Waititi’s deft direction mixes humour, poignancy, action and classic Kiwiana ­references through a storyline that revolves around child welfare, abduction and New Zealand’s East Coast wilderness.

– Listener writer James Belfield in an interview with Sam Neill, 29 March 2016

...the way it perfectly balances its elements – emotional without being overwrought, quirky without being twee, hilarious without losing touch of the story or characters – is an achievement that nobody saw coming... We’d call it ‘majestical’, but as Ricky insists, that’s not a word, so we’ll have to settle for calling it the best film of 2016.

– Empire magazine's 'The Best Movies of 2016' article, by John Nugent, Emma Thrower and Phil De Semlyn, 21 December 2016

The film is comedic, but is shadowed with pain . . . Taika's best work is full of heartache and poignancy.

– Sam Neill in his 2023 book Did I Ever Tell You This? A Memoir, page 320