Year of Release: 2025
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloe Sevigny, Lio Mehiel, David Leiber, Thaddea Graham, Will Price, Nora Garrett, Christine Dye
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon Prime
Synopsis and Review
"After the Hunt" premiered at the Venice Film Festival of 2025 where it was met with mixed reviews. By the time it premiered in the American market, the reviews were even harsher, the first for the very talented Luca Guadagnino. The film, written by Nora Garrett (her first produced script), follows the story of Alma, a philosophy teacher at Yale, whom we first encounter during a soirée that she and her husband have organized. During that evening we get to meet Alma's close knit of colleagues and students, including her handsome and flirtatious colleague Hank, her students Maggie, Katie and Arthur. Hank flirts with Alma during the evening, and she politely shields herself from any possible awkward situations. Her husband Frederik keeps a close eye on everyone. The following day Alma is surprised to see Maggie at her front door, clearly distressed. Maggie shares that following Alma's soirée, Hank volunteered to walk her home, and they both decided to have a night cap at her apartment. Maggie's partner Alex wasn't there. Maggie shares that a situation developed, and that something inappropriate between them happened, something she wasn't consensual with. She's unsure if she's going to press charges, but she has decided to share what happened with Alma for support. Alma is surprised, and unsure of what to do. Hank also approaches her and tells her his perspective of the events: he uncovered the fact Maggie had been plagiarizing her papers, and wanted to confront her. He states nothing happened, but fears that whatever emerges will destroy his career. As he predicted himself, Maggie's narrative precipitates a series of events, one of which results in Hank's dismissal. As the events from that situation continue to escalate, Alma's discomfort also increases, leading her to unpredictable behaviors.
Luca Guadagnino is one of the most interesting directors working these days. He has an uncanny ability to bring stories to life, combining character development, with world building, all married with a stylistic perspective, which makes him a unique talent. "After the Hunt" which comes wrapped in what seems to be a "Me Too" type of narrative, soon moves in a different direction, one that is an exploration of who Alma is, and how her past has influenced how she consumes different narratives in her life, be those of her marriage, working relationships, which includes her mentorship ties with her students, and her emotional network, which includes flirtatious threads she may have had with Hank in the past. At times the writing seems to veer close to Patrick Marber's "Closer" territory, but then moves in a different direction towards what Woody Allen did in "September" for instance. It's a film that populates interesting and very intellectual individuals in the center of a very emotional and carnal imbroglio, which isn't even what the story is truly about. This narrative is about uncovering who Alma really is, and by looking at her the director is asking for us to look at ourselves, by illustrating prior questionable decisions, by placing our ambition as a catalyst for a driver that forces us (and Alma) to come to terms with the ability to move past scruples, regrets, ambivalences, in order to get to our desired destination. It's a film that asks questions, and allows for these central characters to slowly reveal themselves to us. The central performances are great, particularly those of Julia Roberts and Michael Stuhlbarg. They get great support from Ayo Edebiri and Chloe Sevigny, and less so from Andrew Garfield, who is miscast in this role. The production team is solid, including the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (not to mention the songs from Caetano Veloso, Cesaria Évora and Ryuichi Sakamoto alongside John Adams), cinematography by Malik Hassan Sayeed, costume design by Giulia Piersanti, and Stefano Baisi's production design. It's another solid film from a very talented film maker, one worth watching.
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