Stepping into the premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, my expectations were high. I’ve seen and adored so much of his oeuvre, and Julia Roberts never misses, so I expected a knockout.
And knocked out I was.
This movie pulls no punches, a brusque two hours and 19 minutes of gut-checking, thought-provoking, pugilistic power.
The insurgent Ayo Edibri plays Maggie, an eager-to-please PhD candidate and student of Alma, played by the aforementioned Julia Roberts. With Andrew Garfield’s Hank – a popular associate professor – they’re a formidable triumvirate of surreptitious ambition and thinly-veiled hubris.
A party at Alma‘s condo upends their world. Hank and Maggie go to her place for a nightcap after the festivities, at which point something terrible happens.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 04: (L-R) Production designer Justin Wilkes, director/producer Luca Guadagnino, and cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed seen at the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ “After The Hunt” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 04, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Amazon MGM Studios via Getty Images)
Back at Alma’s the following night, Maggie, with tear-stained cheeks, recounts her sexual assault at the hands of Hank.
That’s about as much plot as I’m authorized to give, and to be honest, I wouldn’t want to say anymore anyway, because it would ruin a thrilling couple of hours that covers everything from cancel culture to DEI to generational conflict and the intersection of race and gender.
There are scenes in this movie that will stay with me forever, especially an unbelievably tense moment between Alma and Maggie that even after one viewing, I could probably quote word for word.
Roberts and Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Alma’s husband Frederik, glided down the carpet arm-in-arm, two generational talents who somehow find ways to grow despite their obvious craft mastery.
‘My cheeks are so exhausted from smiling,” said Roberts, glowing in fuchsia.
“This is the pixie dust round. This is what our childhood actor dreams are made of.”
“It’s a complicated story, but it’s a fun one,” said Stuhlbarg. ‘Sharing it is the best part. Hearing what people think.”
Well, you’ve heard what I think. You’ll leave the theater questioning everything you thought you knew about so much. I’m shocked how of-the-moment this was, considering it was surely written years ago. It’s Shakespearean in that it’s a parable where darkness lurks at every turn.
My only regret is that I didn’t get to interview Ayo, who I watched come up from a Los Angeles stand-up comic to an A-list actress. I’m so, so happy for her and was electrified by her layered and, frankly, fraught performance.
Something tells me this won’t be my last chance to see her doing incredible work.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 04: Nora Garrett seen at the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ “After The Hunt” at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 04, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Amazon MGM Studios via Getty Images)
I’d also be remiss to not mention Nora Garrett, who wrote this gem. This was her very first feature, and she told me she’d been working as a paralegal and doing other odd jobs just to get by before this monumental moment. Brilliant.
You will be talking about After the Hunt for days. That much I can promise.