After the Hunt

I was drawn to After The Hunt because of Luca Guadagnino and the stellar cast, but once the first Woody Allen-esque scene is done, the film takes an extremely slow and uninteresting pace that makes the dialogue and characters somewhat infuriating to understand or even care about throughout the film. If it had been a faster pace, tighter script, and focused on the core story, it could've been an enjoyable watch. The acting is still really solid and the shots are beautiful with a score that is tantalizing, as always in Luca's films.

Director Luca Guadagnino seemingly enjoys making uncomfortable movies, such as BONES AND ALL, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, and CHALLENGERS. His latest movie takes the cake. AFTER THE HUNT is a psychological drama about four individuals who have their perfectly curated worlds shattered when one of them makes an accusation of sexual misconduct on another. Alma (Julia Roberts) is a well-respected philosophy professor at Yale University. Frederick (Michael Stuhlbarg) is her psychiatrist husband. Maggie (Ayo Edebiri) is Alma's favourite student. She accuses Hank (Andrew Garfield), Alma's colleague and very good friend. This movie is a bit frustrating. Beneath the surface, this is an intellectual battle between generations. One where society internalized their feelings, and one where society externalized their feelings. The movie says a lot, but the message is muddled. Guadagnino makes many references to things and people that are no longer acceptable in today's society, seemingly poking the audience to see how they react. The score is unique, but I found it intentionally abrasive, annoying and a distraction. Garfield shows a different side of himself as an actor, and I commend him for that. Michael Stuhlbarg comes in yet again as the unsung MVP of the movie. Unfortunately, he's pretty much the only character I liked. I think my mind got whiplashed just trying to think about everything this movie is trying to say. This is a very messy movie, but I think that's the point. There is a great movie somewhere in here, but it's buried under a lot of philosophy and meaningful themes trying to fight for attention. Eventually, me and my metaphorical shovel got tired. The ending just left me confused and unsatisfied. Overall, AFTER THE HUNT is a good think-piece with great performances, with the rest just overwhelming, feeling like artistic Tourette's. Remember, not everything in the world is supposed to make you comfortable.

After the Hunt starts with an intriguing premise and strong performances, but the film quickly loses momentum. The pacing is so slow that it becomes hard to stay engaged, you reach a point where you feel bored and almost ready to give up. While the cast delivers solid work and the film has a polished look, the story drags without offering enough emotional payoff.

By the time it reaches the end, the conclusion feels underwhelming and doesn't justify the long, heavy buildup. Overall, it's a movie with potential, but the slow pacing and lackluster ending make it fall short of what it could have been.

After the Hunt creates a very interesting world to step into, with some wonderful performances, especially from Julia Robert's. A cast of unlikeable cold characters in a set to the backdrop of a mostly cold or rainy Yale campus is not overly familiar or cliche, and therefore intriguing.

The craft of the film is there, it's hard not to admire the film making and cinematography at work. However some of the sound choices from the ticking clock at the start to pieces of music played loudly over dialogue are a bold choice that for me did not pay off, and feel lack any reasoning apart from a desire a be different.

The real flaw is the many veins of ideas the film has, but it feels unsure as to what it is trying to say, if anything at all. It wants us to question and challenge the ideas it highlights as those in the film do in their philosophy class, however we are not sure where to start, or what emotion or idea it has really been called into question. It also felt about 5 years late to the me too conversation.

Overall I think it's not a bad film, it creates a world, it has some humour that's well executed and great performances. However it feels its main objective is trying really hard to make us question the big topics it raises, but that's sadly where it falls down.

"After the hunt" could have been excellent. Acting was incredible, and the story was interesting. However, the entire film was distracted by a very obnoxious score. And random cinematography. Overall, the film was well done however these shortcomings distracted so much that it took away from the entire movie. Julia Roberts was phenomenal, as was Andrew Garfield.