Julia Roberts Stands Out in Luca Guadagno’s Darkly Ambiguous #metoo Thriller – ryan

Luca Guadagino has never been one to explore so-called “traditional” love stories in his movies, whether that is the skewed pawer dynamic of Call by by your name Or the Electric Polyamory of Challengersbut After the hunt Might be HIS MOST UNCOMFORTABLE AND PESSING DEPION OF ROMANCE AND SEXUALITY TO DATE.

The Story Follows an Older Philosophy Professor Named Alma (Julia Roberts), Whose Close Friendships with a Fellow Teacher (Andrew Garfield) and Their talented student (Ayo Edebiri) Come Crashing Down. The movie Unfolds with Guadagino’s Signature PrecisionUSSING THIS DISTRIBING NARRATIVE OF REVENGE AND SELF-SABOTAGE TO EXPLORA IMAGES OF JEALOUSY, POWER, AND ROMANTIC DUSPHORIA.

There’s a lot of Responsibility that comes with MAKING A FILM LIKE After the hunt; Responsibility to present the characters in a fair and respectible light, but most importantly, to bring a unique to the discussion that of audiences a new through whic to view it. While After the hunt SUCCEEDS AT THE FIRST, IT’S’S THE SCREENPLAY’S LINGERING INDUCTION Ultimately Letts The Story Down.

AFTER The Hunt’s Screenplay Wanders ARUND AN Impossible Question

The Most fscinating aspect is that it is dotn’t really have a conclusive ending. Guadagno Raises Plenrenty of Important Questions About Sexual misconduct and the Dangerous Power Balance of Higher Education SystemsIncluding How We Can Expect Women to Speak Up When these are allgations Can Permanaage Their Careers, But it Never Really Comes to A Conclusion.

The film is told almost entirery from the perspective of Julia Roberts’ Character, who was involved with the incident and has no reasson to the parties involved work. This Makes for a Very Engaging Story, nor the audience is equally unure what to believe. We’re tangentially involved in this mytery, but We’re not see Seeing it Through the Eyes of Anebody Who Was Involved.

Nor Such, After the hunt DEMANDS A LOT OF PATIENCE AND TRUST FROM ITS AUDIENCE-AND IT HAS AN UNCONVINCING PAY-OFF. IT’s not that guadagnino is necessarily avoiding The Answer (it is fairly Clear by the end what he was to think of the whole scenario), but the final act is structurally weak Because of His Audience at Such a Distance.

After the hunt is a masterclass in audiovisual voltage-building

Although Its Story May Be Lacking, there’s Nothing Underwhelming About the Way Guadagno Brings This Story to Life on the Screen. From the subdued color palette to the creeping camera that glides Slowly THRAGH NARROW HALLSYS AND DOOR FRAMES, he creates a very ominous atmosphere through the entity project. It Expertly Mirrors Both the Feelings of the Characters and Those he’s trying to instil in the audience.

Guadagino ha always been a Very tactile and aesthetic filmmakerwith His Most Recent Projects, Challengers and Queer, Really highlighting that strength. In those films, his sensory filmmaking is Achieved Through Beads of Sweat on the Tennis Courts or Thick Smoke in 1940s Mexico City Bars. In After the huntIt ‘The Creeping Darkness of Alma’s Connecticut Apartment that Sucks audiences into this dinner academic world.

Think Half-Fixed Whiskey Tumblers and Ornate Casserole Dishas, ​​Piled High On Rich Antique Fuiture. Alma’s Life, From the Outside, Is an Upper-Class Dream. But guadagino use this aesthetic facade to effecatively break down the walls of this illusion, proving that the horrors of human behavior aren’t conflicted to this winter. They’re everywire, and After the hunt Really forces us to reckon with the Changing World Around US.

After the hunt Also Features A Lively, Jazz-Inpired Score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Who Reunite with the Director AFTER ACCLAIMED WORK ON Challengers‘Score. The Music Does a Lot of Heavy LiftingCreating a Very Serene atmosphere gradually builds unil the gentle piano tones morph into loud, orchestral pieces that mirror the growing paranoia of alma’s journey.

Julia Roberts Delivers A Powerhouse Performance in AFTER The Hunt

Each of the performances deserves Praise on its Own Merits, But Julia Roberts is undenibly The Star of the Show. She navigates This Complex Story with Nuance and Restraint, gradually unraveling the layers of her character only we can. Garfield Also Shines in His Supporting Role, Dysplaying a wide range of Powerful Emotions Throughout His Brief Screen Time.

The decision to frame alma as the protagonist of this story. There’s a scnene in which roberts’ character is teaching a group of students, and they’re discussing the Greek hero uloysses. Despite Never Recognizing the Importance of His ACCOMPLISHMENTS while and Undertook, Ulysses Breaks Down Hearing a Blind Poet Recount the Very Same Stories.

Perception is Everything, and Sometimes It ‘Harder to look inside yourself than observe the inner Truths of Others. Centering This Story Around Alma Instead of Hank or Maggie is a Bold Move, But Its After the hunt‘S Biggest Strength. Only Through the Eyes of An Outside Party DOES the true horror of this story Become Clear.

After the hunt

7/10

Release Date

October 10, 2025

Directory

Luca Guadagino

Wriers

Nora Garrett

Producers

Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody, Allan Mandelbaum