Blumhouse and Universal's The Hunt introduced audiences to Betty Gilpin's rather unusual heroine, Crystal May, who proves that unique, out-of-the-box characters can break genre norms in exciting ways.

The Hunt first released in theaters on March 13, 2020, but didn't manage any victories at the box office in the wake of coronavirus. While some people were able to catch this satirical social thriller that racked up a fair amount of controversy during its initial marketing, which led to the film being pulled from Universal's line-up in 2019, reviews for The Hunt were surprisingly negative. Director Craig Zobel and writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof cleverly wrapped their messages about the spread of social media and its negative effects on society into a sleek, 90-minute bloodbath with characters who, for the most part, were dispatched too quickly for audiences to ever become attached: most of them didn't even have names until the end credits, which was kind of the point.

Related: The Hunt: Was Don Really [SPOILER]?

However, one character - Crystal May - broke the mold not only by The Hunt's standards that celebrate people not being precisely what they appear and not believing everything that's presented on a surface level, but goes beyond that to rise above horror and action movies' expectations for female characters. Crystal May is eccentric, odd, and quirky in ways that translated well on screen and challenged audiences to try something different on for size.

The Hunt: Why Is Crystal May So Unusual?

the hunt with betty gilpin

While The Hunt boldly announced that its audience was going to expect the unexpected after a shocking opening sequence where the "hunted" woke up in a field, were given weapons, and promptly dispatched leaving only few survivors to carry the rest of the film, Crystal May seemed to be someone viewers could lean on. Even when major characters were killed early, there was something trustworthy about the character that felt like a sure thing. In a world where action heroes are predominantly men, the choice to make Crystal May a cross between Ellen Ripley, John Wick, and Rambo was a fascinating choice by Zobel that was punctuated by her strange mannerisms, long-winded stories of childhood fables, and impressive military training.

Gilpin steals the show in a lot of ways. Not only is she instantly recognizable as a character who has what it takes to survive until the film's ending - though in The Hunt, this is harder to trust, and intentionally so - but she breaks the mold for women in horror films. From the first time she's seen on screen, Crystal May is plotting her escape and prepared to forsake all others to get home; before she's even freed from her mouth confines, she devises a makeshift compass out of a bobby pin, some static electricity from her hair, and a leaf that she floats on the water to orient herself. She doesn't trust a harmless looking gas station from the get-go, and shows tactical savvy by chastising another of her co-horts for shooting down a drone. She's paranoid, a little quirky, and never sexualized throughout the film; this is even more difficult to find in genre films, as women can be strong, but only in a way that doesn't diminish their femininity or sex appeal.

In the final fight with the leader of the "elites", Athena (Hilary Swank), Athena tells Crystal May that she was her prime target and the group's "Snowball", a reference to the leader in Animal Farm. While the movie leaves the ending open that Crystal was the wrong person Athena was targeting and not someone who used the screen name, JusticeForYall, she certainly emerged as a hero - and an unconventional leader - all the same. The Hunt is destined for cult classic status in the future despite negative reviews on first release, and part of that is due to smart, unusual characters who work outside of trope-laden boxes like Crystal May.

Next: The Hunt: Was Betty Gilpin The Real Crystal May?