Henry Cavill’s Most Perplexing Role: Night Hunter’s Bizarre Journey to Streaming Fame

MOVIE NEWS – Henry Cavill rocketed to international celebrity as Superman in the DC Extended Universe, but that blockbuster momentum hasn’t always translated to the rest of his career. Perhaps the oddest chapter is his leading part in 2018’s crime thriller Night Hunter, where Cavill plays Walter Marshall, a Minnesota detective on the trail of a serial killer who targets young women.

Let’s face it, Cavill fans: critics were spot-on about this misfire. Night Hunter assembles a jaw-dropping cast—Alexandra Daddario, Nathan Fillion, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci—yet manages to make all of them unmemorable. The film’s current streaming “success” says less about hidden brilliance and more about how online platforms have become graveyards for high-profile flops.

It’s almost ironic: just as David Corenswet’s new Superman era has sparked fresh debates about Cavill’s time in the suit, Cavill himself finds his reputation resurging thanks to the sudden streaming popularity of Night Hunter—a film long considered the weakest entry in his filmography.

No Superhero Can Rescue This Script

Night Hunter tries desperately to mix suspense and psychology, but the end result is confusing, mechanical, and illogical. Instead of forging a new path, it lifts shamelessly from classics like Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs, exposing just how pale an imitation it really is. Every genre cliché is here, but the movie can’t make them gel.

Although the film claims to offer a unique look at the serial killer psyche, its depiction of the unstable antagonist (or antagonists) brings nothing new for seasoned viewers. Ultimately, Night Hunter proves that even A-list actors can’t rise above clumsy dialogue and flat characters. Even Cavill and Kingsley—usually reliable—can’t save the sinking ship.

For instance, Cavill’s Walter Marshall is a Midwest cop with a very non-Minnesota British accent. Kingsley’s Michael Cooper is a former judge who becomes a vigilante, teaming with his adopted daughter to catch and castrate sexual predators. When his daughter is kidnapped, the investigation leads Marshall to a secluded mansion filled with missing women and the unhinged, twitchy Simon—Night Hunter’s version of the serial killer archetype.

Simon’s portrayal is so exaggerated it feels cartoonish, making him a mere tool to advance the plot. Unlike the disturbingly realistic depiction in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Night Hunter’s villain is a caricature—serving only to inhabit a story that never finds its footing.

How Did Night Hunter Even Happen?

This is one of those “how did this get made?” movies. Why did Cavill and such a cast sign up? After a modest VOD debut on DirecTV and a barely-there theatrical run grossing just over $1 million, the movie faded—until being rediscovered as a streaming oddity on Paramount+.

The Rotten Tomatoes score sits at a brutal 14%, Cavill’s lowest for any leading role (next lowest: Batman v Superman at 28%). Night Hunter is a rare outlier for Cavill—a complete misfire that marked the directorial debut and, so far, the only feature from David Raymond.

Career at a Turning Point for Cavill

Night Hunter’s streaming notoriety underscores a broader truth: none of Cavill’s non-Superman projects have ever grabbed the public’s imagination the same way. Now, with Corenswet claiming the Superman legacy, Cavill is free to redefine himself as an actor—not just “that guy in the cape.”

His casting as the lead in the Highlander reboot would have been controversial years ago, when Superman was still Cavill’s defining role. But unlike Christopher Reeve, Cavill has broadened his portfolio, working with directors like Guy Ritchie (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) and returning soon in In the Grey. Over the last decade, Cavill has proven himself a cinematic all-rounder—maybe not the gold medalist, but always in the game.

Source: MovieWeb