After the Hunt Brings Its Own Tale of “Crying Wolf”
A film on gender, identity, and trust
Imagine Entertainment
After the Hunt appears to be getting many bad reviews, and I truly question why. I tend to be the odd one out of the bunch, but sheesh, I thought the movie was short of brilliant. 2025 films have been cooking up some of my favorite types of movies this year; deeply layered with complex themes. If there is ambiguity thrown in, then that's the cherry on top. After the Hunt includes all of this and is absolutely on the list of deeper movies for the year.
How Was the Movie?
After the Hunt is a drama that is heavy on dialogue, and even heavier on themes. This makes perfect sense as the story is about Philosophy professors, colleagues, and students at Yale University. I’m not going to lie, they made working at Yale look luxurious as hell. Dream job level. Who doesn’t want to get paid to research and talk about what they love all day?
Going back to the story, as the trailer alludes there is a s*xual assault case between a student (Ayo Edebiri) and a professor (Andrew Garfield). The lead character Alma (Julia Roberts), is placed in the middle of the situation. Alma has to figure out who to trust between her favorite student and her close colleague. In addition, Alma appears to be facing some medical issues while she is competing for a very important promotion.
Imagine Entertainment
I like After the Hunt because it brings up many complex matters to unpack, while still focusing on the core issue of assault.
Gender is a huge topic in the film. You’ll even take notice of how certain characters dress and behave, and much of it may be considered “out of the norm.” For instance, Julia Robert’s character is arguably masculine with a feminine husband. She dresses like an aggressive fem and her husband tends to do most of the cooking. It gets deeper than that; I’m just giving some shallow basics.
I feel that beyond the other matters, such as classicism and racism, trust seems to be a huge deal for both the characters and the audience. You don’t know who to believe in the movie, especially in the beginning. But through hints from dialogue, body language, and background music, the true nature of each individual is revealed.
Imagine Entertainment
Best Parts About the Movie?
Dialogue:
The dialogue was pretty well written, and I just know that I’m going to pick up on different things when I rewatch the movie. The conversations are the heart of the movies; each exchange provides a deeper understanding of who each character is, and their relationships with one another.
The dialogue is also a gateway to the various themes mentioned before. By the end of the film, it will feel like you just read a book that you need to reflect on and dissect.
Directorial and Production Work:
After the Hunt helped me to realize just how much of a fan I am of director Luca Guadagnino. I loved his work throughout the film, especially his various angles and perspective shots. There is one scene that was filmed in a restaurant booth surrounded by mirrors, and the viewer gets to see various perspectives of the characters while they are having an intense conversation.
I also found many of the sound and music choices interesting. There’s a score with a ticking clock in the background of silent scenes. You hear nothing but that damn clock, and I found it oddly appealing.
The music also seemed to be used as an Easter egg in a couple scenes. There were moments of intimate conversations where the background music sounded like a howling and crying wolf. If this is what was really happening, that was an awesome use of music to enhance the storytelling.
Imagine Entertainment
Is This Movie for You?
Do you like slow burns? Do you like a lot of dialogue in movies? Do you like Julia Roberts? These are the things that you’ll need to ask yourself if you are questioning if this movie is for you.There’s also many topics that may make people uncomfortable, especially while living in the current political climate that we are in today.
Imagine Entertainment
Ultimately, After the Hunt wants you to talk about it long after it’s over and to form your own conclusions. Because the answers are left so ambiguous, there’s a good chance that viewers will be left with uncertainty. If you’re into such stories, then After the Hunt is worth your watch *tick tock*.
