Although Carlos Saura has frequently been accused of 'borrowing' from Luis Buñuel, and although he clearly pays homage to his friend and mentor in La Caza [The Hunt], the film does not set out to be a serious imitation. Saura's images on the whole are not surreal but grow organically out of the characters and landscape; this is no journey into the dreamworld of the subconscious but a finely worked psychological thriller which, without strain, can be taken as a pessimistic parable about Spanish society…. The paucity of action generates an atmosphere of listlessness and ennui: seemingly trapped by the heat and idleness of this endless day, the men are provoked into unaccustomed introspection. The telescopic sight on Luis' rifle is a sign of his ability to see further into moral realities although, too weak to face up to them, he finds oblivion in his brandy flask...