After the Hunt

Set amidst the intellectually rarefied environment of some university philosophers, I thought this might have had some similarities to Tár (2023) when a student makes an unsubstantiated accusation against one of her teachers and, well you know what they say about mud sticking. Sadly not, though, as this seems intent on avoiding dealing in any depth with any of the potentially interesting points that it raises. Acclaimed professor Alma (Julia Roberts) is seeking tenure, has an unique sort of marriage with psychiatrist Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg) and has a very tactile rapport with provocative fellow teacher Hank (Andrew Garfield). She also has a student called Maggie (Ayo Edebiri). Now this lass comes from very wealthy stock, is living with...

In a movie with a title like After the Hunt, one would assume that the characters are indeed hunting for something, either literally or metaphorically. However, after watching this latest offering from filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, as near as I could tell, that missing element would most likely be the plot. Given the overwritten, overintellectualized, unfocused nature of its narrative, with its many meandering, disjointed story threads, its hard to say exactly what the director and screenwriter Nora Garrett were going for here. The story essentially centers around Yale University philosophy professor Alma Imhoff (Julia Roberts), an acclaimed voice in her field and eager tenure candidate who learns about an alleged sexual misconduct accusation ...