My first thoughts digesting After the Hunt were how Guadagnino has made a Woody Allen film. From the obvious (the title cards played over traditional jazz) to the more integral (the focus on well off white liberals discussing their moral ambiguities) After the Hunt feels like 90s Allen only without the director's presence visually in the film.
After the Hunt is a talky movie, but the kind where the words feel violent and intrusive. Guadagnino seems obsessed with taking a subject and dissecting it from all angles. He refuses to give us answers, take a position, or even posit a "good guy". After the Hunt is deliberately agnostic on morality, preferring to remain out of the fray it is chronicling. Whenever we think we have a clue as to the "truth" or to a character's character he pulls that out from under us by giving us more reason to doubt. The film almost violently rejects subjectivity.
And this is where the film lost me. Yes it was fascinating and it was riddled with interesting quandaries, but its fearfulness of taking any perspective (other than a cowardly detachment) left it feeling nihilistic and cold. And to be honest, a lot of the dilemmas the film is positing feel a bit tired. It all feels very 2021... I guess I'd like to think there is more insight into the power dynamics explored here but much of what After the Hunt focuses on feels like well treaded water.
This no fault of the cast who all do remarkable work. I love this stage of Roberts' career where she is taking these sorts of meaty roles. For me Stuhlbarg is the true standout, just shining in every scene, even when his character is more background than the main action. But really everyone is very good here.
It just didn't feel like After the Hunt had much interesting to say about its subject that hasn't already been said before.
After the Hunt
Starring: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer: Nora Garrett
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