Coming off the success of “Challengers” and “Queer,” Luca Guadagnino’s most recent film, “After The Hunt,” propels his stories into the modern day.
The film focuses on two Yale University philosophy professors, Alma (Julia Roberts), Hank (Andrew Garfield) and their graduate student Maggie (Ayo Ebediri). After Maggie accuses Hank of sexual assault, Alma is unsure whose side to choose, either her flirtatious co-worker or her protege. The film follows Alma as she struggles to understand the situation while harboring long-held secrets.
The chemistry between the three leads of the film is off the charts. A key aspect of this film is the discussions between these philosophical giants, all with their own strong wills and rigid opinions of the world. While their monologues can tend to be grandiose, seeing the world in their own steadfast views, their banter is very fun to watch. Throughout the film, every interaction is a game of tug-of-war, with each character winning an argument, slowly pulling the story one way or another, constantly keeping audience members on their toes.
The college setting of the film also helped strengthen the tone throughout, with Yale giving the audience a clearer sense of the characters. In a roundtable interview with the cast and crew of “After the Hunt,” the screenwriter Nora Garrett shared how the campus helps tie the story together.
“Yale is a storied institution that offers and promises a lot of privilege and contains a lot of privilege,” Garrett said. Through the mannerisms and the lines delivered by the cast, this sentiment is largely apparent.
Another stellar performance was Michael Stuhlbarg as Frederik, Alma’s doting husband. The film spends a lot of time shrouded in mystery, so Frederik works as the audience’s conduit. He constantly spends his time outside of the main three, never truly knowing what is happening.
Stuhlbarg’s performance dances around this line of feeling immense love for his wife, while also harboring a large level of resentment for always being on the outskirts. He also adds some of the only comedic moments in the film, helping to give the story reprieve at times of hardship.
However, outside of the main cast, the script was quite lacking, relying on rigid language that didn’t always serve the story. Whenever Robert’s character is lecturing to other students or speaking with other professors, they are unable to match Robert’s performance, which makes their acting feel amateur.
Tension is an important aspect of the film. Often, characters will simply speak to one another, ignoring the world around them, almost as if it pauses for them. In “After the Hunt,” every interaction has a random interruption, which breaks the flow of the moment. These interruptions force the audience and the actors to hold their emotions during times of extreme stress, making them feel even more real.
Andrew Garfield and Julia Roberts explained that Luca Guadagnino’s lack of excessive takes forced everyone to stay extremely focused throughout these scenes of high pressure.
“Luca doesn’t like a lot of takes,” Garfield joked.
For the soundtrack, Guadagnino employed frequent collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. They utilize a large variety of wind and percussion instruments to give the film an air of suspense. This score feels connected to every moment of the film, with the instruments changing as different situations arise. The music rises as tensions amplify through each snide comment or intellectual jab, helping to move the plot forward.
Although the music often is not enough to support the film’s pacing issues. After a tense opening act, the movie begins to crawl at a snail’s pace. The characters bounce from place to place, repeatedly explaining the plot from different people’s perspectives. The film’s pace doesn’t pick up until the last 30 minutes.
The film itself is very compelling, but it is even more powerful in today’s world. Throughout the film, there are connections to ideas of online culture and social relationships, referencing real pop culture issues like the #MeToo movement and the rise of virtue signaling.
The characters are fleshed out and feel real, operating on a real college campus and addressing real issues of today, especially when focused on the topic of sexual assault. In the end, the three leads of the film shine in the backdrop of a more basic plot, turning it into a tense and strong drama.
