Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino follows up his back-to-back films from 2024 with his latest project, “After the Hunt,” produced by MGM. Guadagnino has assembled an impressive cast, featuring Oscar winner Julia Roberts, Emmy recipient Ayo Edebiri, and Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield and Chloë Sevigny. Nora Garrett pens the screenplay, while the score is composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Set on the campus of Harvard, the film follows college professor Alma Imhoff (played by Julia Roberts) as she strives to secure tenure. Well-liked by her students, Alma goes the extra mile to support those she believes can make a significant impact in the world.
However, following a gathering one night, she finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when her star student, Maggie Prince (Ayo Edebiri), levels a serious accusation against one of her colleagues, Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield), who is also a former student of hers. As Alma attempts to manage the situation and salvage her already strained marriage to her husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a dark secret from her past threatens to resurface.
At its core, “After the Hunt” does have strong background elements. The film explores nepotism, sexism, male toxicity, and the flaws of the rape culture. While of the topics are heavy-handed, Nora Garrett can’t seem to find a cohesive flow she wants to stick with. Roberts does her best with the material, and if the film had focused solely on her character and centered on the unknowns, we might have had a better project.
In the role of Hank, Andrew Garfield just doesn’t come across naturally as a douche bag. When he’s overly touchy with his students or justifies his behavior, it comes off as a drunken cosplay. If the film had taken a route similar to the movie ‘Disclosure’, which effectively portrays the consequences of workplace harassment, then Garfield would have had a more substantial character to work with.
Worst of all, the usually reliable Ayo Edebiri is becoming typecast. The script tries to give her character some merit moments, but she’s playing another version of her character from the equally horrendous “Opus”. The one good moment is her discovery of a carefully hidden envelope in Alma’s bathroom, which contains photographs of a mystery man and a newspaper clipping. Even that angle is ruined by an unnecessarily long runtime.
Additionally, the score is pedestrian and gives off an AI vibe. The one redeeming factor of the film is the lush cinematography by Malik Hassan Sayeed, who has consistently demonstrated a great eye.
Walking into “After the Hunt”, I knew the genesis of the film’s plot; however, considering Guadagnino’s style, I had a feeling that the film would take some detours with its narrative. Sadly, with a bloated runtime and an incohesive narrative, “After the Hunt” is one of my year’s worst.
Final Grade: D.
“After The Hunt” opens in Theaters in New York and LA October 10 and expands on October 17
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