After The Hunt // Film Review

“You won.”

After The Hunt feels like a Rorschach Test play on cancel culture “discourse”, indeed more so than the acts themselves. Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of Nora Garrett’s long-circulating script - itself a wordy chamber drama of battling monologues - emphasises heavily the importance of body language and eye-lines. The stage blocking, if nothing else, is beyond exceptional, even by Guadagnino’s usual standards. 

That is to say nothing of the film’s top-form ensemble, with Michael Stuhlbarg standing apart as he devours a role finally worthy of his talents. That said, the canvas-like nature of the film can occasionally feel circular in spite of its grand performances, particularly in the relationship between Alma (Julia Roberts) and Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), a centre-point of the film which hovers in an evasive, non-committal space for much of the film’s runtime. 

That said, Roberts and Edebiri play their parts admirably in spite of the sometimes glacial pace of what should be a turbulent dynamic. Both are saddled with a wide range of complex monologues, and although Roberts at times risks veering into Lydia Tar-lite territory, Edebiri is the real dramatic surprise here, taking skills presumably learnt on The Bear and taking them to new levels here.

As is the case with several of the film’s pivotal moments, Edebiri’s character’s initial ‘confession’ scene is deliberately underlit, affording audiences only hand movements, posture and the occasional glint of an eye to match-up with the words being delivered. It is a testament to Edebiri that a full range of conflicting emotions shine through in the darkness, anchoring this film of viewpoints and hypotheticals in something miserably real.  

Despite this minimalist lighting, coupled with a tendency for extreme close-ups as a means of punctuating monologues, After The Hunt remains possibly Guadagnino’s most reserved project to date. While appreciating that this may be about as helpful as calling a Christopher Nolan film “linear”, there is a maturity here not seen in more broadly pleasurable works like Challengers or Bones & All. This is a calmer, more considered effort from the Italian showman, and that’s even after accounting for Atticus Ross & Trent Reznor’s dialogue-drowning score. 

The ultimate aim of After The Hunt is to be provocative however, something it succeeds in doing from the opening credits right along to its truly cutthroat final line. What makes the project such a unique entry in Guadagnino’s line of work however ,is his blanket refusal to steer viewers in any one direction throughout its lengthy middle act. Flaws and all, this is already the film of 2025 that I’m most keen to revisit again and again, if only to experience Stuhlbarg’s sulky strut as many times as is humanly possible.