Night of the Hunted ending explained: The motive behind the Sniper's actions, explored

Two years ago, in 2023, the horror film Night Of The Hunted was released. Helmed by Franck Khalfoun, Night Of The Hunted stars Camille Rowe, Stasa Stanic, Jeremy Scippio, Aleksander Popovic, J. John Bieler, and many others.

The story follows the horrific events taking place in the course of a single night, when a woman named Alice makes a halt at a convenience store during her work trip with her lover. But little does she know that her entry into the store would lead to a battle for life or death.

A sniper repeatedly aims to kill her at the store, and the story follows the events that take place on the unfateful night. But the prime question still persists. Why was the bloodthirsty Sniper behind Alice's life? What could be his exact motive?

Keep reading to find out more about the Sniper's intention behind attacking Alice in Night Of The Hunted.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Night Of The Hunted. Reader discretion is advised.

Night of the Hunted: Why was the Sniper trying to kill Alice?

The story of Night Of The Hunted begins when Alice, who works at a pharmaceutical company, is on a work trip with her colleague and boyfriend, John. Alice is actually married to Erik, who wants to have a child with her. Erik, unaware of Alice's affair, seems to be quite affectionate towards Alice, but the emotion is not reciprocated.

While on a car ride, Alice and John decide to pull up at a gas station to fill the car's empty tank. Alice also feels hungry in the middle of the night, so she enters the nearby convenience store to grab some late-night munchies. What seemed to be a normal, mundane event turns into the most gruesome one for Alice. In fact, these moments end up being the last for both Alice and John.

As soon as Alice makes an entry inside the store, she notices splatters of blood on the walls. An unidentified sniper takes a shot at Alice out of nowhere and injures her shoulder. As Alice struggles to grapple with her injuries and is desperately striving to find her way out, John comes to the store looking for her. However, he meets with a tragic end in Night Of The Hunted, as the sniper shoots and kills John immediately.

Soon, Alice luckily finds a two-way radio, and she tries to communicate with someone for help. On the other side of the radio, the voice of a man calls for someone named 'Amelia'. Alice, however, pleads with the man to urgently call the cops. Just when we, as viewers, finally begin to breathe easily and return from the edge of our seats, the man on the radio reveals himself to be the sniper.

Night Of The Hunted teases us about the identity of the sniper. Who could it be? Naturally, at first, it is easier to assume that it could be Alice's husband, Erik, who has gone spiteful after hearing about her affair and is out on a murderous rampage. But after listening to the conversations the Sniper has with Alice, things become murkier and even more complex.

Amelia is soon revealed to be the late wife of the sniper, whom he had killed at the store. Alice sees the dead body of Amelia at the store. The reason behind her murder is cited as Amelia's infidelity towards the sniper. The sniper goes on to reveal every detail he has gathered about Alice.

In addition to his revelations about Alice, the sniper also rants about several issues that seem to deeply impact him. The sniper believes that Alice was an opportunistic woman who had used anyone and everyone to be successful in her career. He starts taking a dig at Alice in every possible way, be it about her professional or her personal life.

He makes alleged claims about her pharmaceutical company making fatal drugs that cause harm to people. He also further accuses her of falsely indicting men of sexual harassment cases to climb up the career ladder. All these speculations about Alice give us the impression that the sniper is a woman-hating man who likes to blame women for everything.

The sniper even expresses displeasure about how the world is becoming more "woke" these days. He makes generalized, misogynistic statements about 'liberals' and women that are fueled by anti-women sentiments. Analysing his statements, it seems like he is a vaccination denier who believes in upholding misogynistic as well as unscientific values.

So, in Night Of The Hunted, when the Sniper gets to know about Alice, he learns that she is an embodiment of an ideology that he abhorrently rejects. Therefore, he could've planned to eradicate Alice, the same way he annihilated Amelia. His conflict with Alice does not seem to end with her alone; it seems to be a reflection of his conservative politics and mindset.

The common thread between Amelia and Alice is adultery; therefore, that could be one of the major triggers for the Sniper to justify his actions. But in the course of the film, he also kills people who have nothing to do with the case, such as Doug and the old couple.

In the entire course of Night Of The Hunted, the identity of the Sniper is not revealed. So it is difficult to pinpoint any one reason or draw a complete conclusion. He could be someone from Alice's past, or it could be a homicidal maniac who targets women.

But through his statements, it seems that the reasons behind the Sniper's actions are manifold and are rooted in his orthodox values. The film is not subtle and plays with the instant assumed hate and judgment that a stereotype, label, or action invites in the contemporary social setting. Therefore, his motive could be more about a skewed idea of a 'higher purpose' or 'justice' than just killing Alice.