Luca Guadagnino‘s “After the Hunt” Draws Criticism for Stilted Drama and Allen Echoes
Stockholm – Luca Guadagnino’s latest film,”After the Hunt,” starring Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield,is facing scrutiny for its lack of visual flair and a narrative that treads familiar ground in the contentious subject of professor-student relationships. The film, released by Amazon MGM Studios, has drawn comparisons to the work of woody allen, a connection the director appears to deliberately court, according to a review published in Dagens nyheter (DN.se).
The review notes the subject matter has been extensively explored in cinema,citing David Mamet’s “Oleanna” and several films by Allen as predecessors. guadagnino’s film centers on Alma (Roberts) and Hank (Garfield), colleagues at a university, and reportedly borrows structural elements from Allen’s “Matchpoint,” including the use of jazz music and signature white subtitles. However, the critic suggests this homage feels “lame” and that the film avoids definitively addressing the central conflict, potentially lost amidst evolving cultural sensitivities (“while woke was taken over by anti-woke”).
The performances are also a point of contention. While Michael Stuhlbarg, playing Alma’s husband, delivers an expressive performance, garfield’s attempt at portraying an intellectual is described as “painful,” and Roberts appears restrained, rarely utilizing the “world-famous smile” that defined her 1990s comedies. The review concludes that Guadagnino, known for his visual style and sensuality, has created a film lacking in both, resulting in a piece resembling “stiff college theater.” The film ends with a deliberate “cut” after the actors leave frame, a tactic the critic interprets as an attempt to create depth in an otherwise two-dimensional work.
DN.se highlights three previous Guadagnino films – “A Bigger Splash” (2015), “Call me By Your Name” (2017), and “Bones and All” (2022) – as superior examples of his filmmaking.
A related interview with Julia Roberts, published in Dagens Nyheter, reveals her hope that the film will provoke a reaction from audiences (“I hope people get upset - that’s the real challenge”).
