Venice 2025: Guadagnino’s ‘After the Hunt’ is Good Story of Denial
by Alex Billington August 30, 2025
“He crossed the road.” “However what really occurred?” The reality is on the market, however nobody actually likes the reality anymore, as a result of the reality might be harmful. That is simply the reality. Not each movie is supposed to make you’re feeling all heat & fuzzy while you watch. In reality, among the finest movies ever made are movies that make viewers really feel uncomfortable (like Tar at Venice 2022), and make them query their very own views and ideas and emotions. That is the case with After the Hunt, the tenth characteristic movie from the acclaimed Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. The movie simply premiered on the 2025 Venice Movie Competition to many destructive opinions from critics proper off the bat. However I am right here to set the document straight – After the Hunt is an excellent thriller, Luca Guadanigno’s finest movie after Name Me By Your Title. It could not as thrilling or upbeat as Challengers or Queer, however that does not make it any much less masterful. The movie options an exceptionally dense, philosophically / intellectually advanced script that straight handle sexual assault denialism. It is also meticulously crafted, entrancing and harrowing to look at. And it hasn’t left my thoughts in any respect because the finish of the screening days in the past.
After the Hunt is a delicate story about sexual assault and ladies, nonetheless it’s directed by a person – Luca Guadanigno. Although the screenplay is written by a girl – American author Nora Garrett together with her first produced screenplay. The movie is ready at Yale and actually opens with a title card saying “it occurred at Yale.” Clearly impressed by and/or based mostly on an actual incident, however that is moreover the purpose as a result of what it exhibits continues to be sadly taking place in so many locations. Julia Roberts stars as professor Alma Olsson, on the verge of tenure at Yale. Considered one of her mates / colleagues is Hank Gibson, performed by Andrew Garfield, a beloved, outspoken, bearded younger professor. Ayo Edebiri co-stars as Maggie Worth, a PhD pupil in Alma’s program. After a late evening social gathering at Alma’s fancy house the place everybody was drunk, Hank walks Maggie house and one thing occurs. The following day a damaged down Maggie involves Alma and tells her one thing dangerous occurred that evening, hoping she would possibly assist her by means of this horrible scenario. Alas, Alma more and more turns into resistant, and the scenario explodes – primarily as a result of Hank and Alma begin to notice that is going to mess with their hopes and desires of tenure climbing up the profession ladder in academia. It is not really a “he stated, she stated” scenario – it is rather more about why will not others consider what she stated & refuse to cope with abusive males.
The filmmaking is solely on level as it is a very delicate topic coping with main problems with our time and generational variations. This movie has some severe depth to what it is getting at and implying about society – and it is really very particularly making an uncomfortable level. It is not “enjoyable” to look at by any means, however it’s compelling and intensely fascinating. Michael Stuhlbarg additionally co-stars as Alma’s husband Frederik, an smug thinker therapist who likes to argue and debate about heady subjects. A lot of the dialogue all through he movie is exceptionally advanced, and I believe it can take a number of viewings for these to dig into what’s being stated, what’s being debated, and what every scene means. It is arduous for anybody to choose up on every little thing within the first viewing. Sure it is a very talky movie, however nearly all of Luca Guadanigno’s movies are about dialogue and conversations. Even Name Me By Your Title – they’re attracted to one another due to their conversations. “You recognize what issues…” After the Hunt is definitely fairly just like CMBYN however performs out solely reverse. At first, Alma and Maggie do form of love one another (in a respectful professor / pupil approach) nonetheless because the story goes on they break up and get additional & farther from one another. I like how Guadanigno crafts this dynamic and builds a story round an mental understanding of the dialogue.
What would possibly upset folks probably the most is that the movie has a really robust level to make about all of the characters. Basically it is a movie about generational variations, and particularly it is about how the older era is solely fallacious concerning the youthful era. Sure that is introduced up in just a few conversations, however the level of the script is digging actually painfully into why somebody like Alma will get so obsessive about denying and rejecting Maggie and what occurred. Accusations are thrown about, conversations descend into yelling matches, and philosophy is used to excuse complaints. All as a result of approach too many individuals are afraid of shedding their energy, their profession, all that they’ve labored for, as a result of they do not need to cope with the reality about sexual assault and rape, and the way poorly it’s dealt with in locations like prestigious universities. The script and this movie actually need to remind us that older generations may not be proper about every little thing and actually do have to defer to the youthful generations – even when this pisses them off. The writing may be very, very heavy with intricate scenes and refined reveals aplenty. I actually suppose most are lacking the purpose. However that is all too frequent these days – even the ultimate revelations are going to piss folks off as a result of it is not what they need to hear from anybody…
Other than the narrative, this new Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross rating is once more very good although rather more haunting, enhancing the unease of watching this story about accusations and reality. After all every little thing is completely different from Guadanigno’s previous movies as a result of this isn’t a subject that warrants any sort of playful, upbeat filmmaking. The lead performances are all distinctive & layered. Their characters will not be underdeveloped in any respect, any declare of such is inaccurate. There’s a lot occurring inside every considered one of them, however in fact they’re folks in academia and which means their whole existence is wrapped up within the philosophy & intellectualism of academia, which is exactly what it’s like on these campuses. The movie will develop on folks with time and will probably be appreciated correctly with time. One of the best summation of how reflective it’s comes from Garfield on the press convention in Venice: “If we do not make the unconscious aware, issues will occur in our lives and we’ll name them destiny. When our motivations are invisible even to ourselves, we turn out to be unreliable narrators – particularly in a tradition the place survival is paramount. It is fascinating that, in these characters, their needs and desires are invisible to themselves, so every of them believes they’re the hero of the story.” And ultimately there isn’t any hero, there isn’t any one to rejoice on this story. However it’s nonetheless an vital story advised so brilliantly.
Alex’s Venice 2025 Score: 9.5 out of 10Observe Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
