Advanced screening of ‘After the Hunt’ playing at Yale Tuesday
The film, which was directed by Luca Guadagnino, takes place on Yale’s campus and follows characters fictionally associated with the University.
Alexis Lam, Staff Photographer
“After the Hunt,” a new drama set at Yale and directed by Luca Guadagnino, is showing at Yale Tuesday evening in advance of the film’s general release date, Oct. 17.
Much of “After the Hunt” takes place on Yale’s campus, though none of the film was actually filmed at the University. The film stars Julia Roberts as Yale professor Alma Olsson, a confident, chilly woman whose life begins to crumble when her doctoral candidate protégée Maggie, played by Ayo Edebiri, accuses Alma’s colleague and friend Hank, played by Andrew Garfield, of sexual assault.
After the film, Crystal Feimster, a Black studies professor, and Joe Fischel, a women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor, will lead a discussion.
In a review of “After the Hunt” in Variety, film critic Owen Gleiberman calls the film, “A movie that has some very good acting, an impressively dark and foreboding visual palette, and a psychologically tense atmosphere of mystery and suspense.”
He asserts that the film poses difficult questions about social justice and sexuality but provides answers that challenge norms.
The Walker Art Center describes Luca Guadagnino — known for directing “Call Me by Your Name,” “Queer” and “Challengers” — as, “known for his deeply personal, emotional, and intimate films.”
“One thing I would say is this is kind of a standout in Luca Guadagnino’s filmography,” James Bylinsky ’29, a film-enthusiast, told the news. “Most of his films are sensual romances. This seems to be a bit more of a thriller.”
In the trailer, the generational differences between Roberts and her students appear to create tensions. Bylinsky said this intergenerational tension is a “constant” in Guadagnino’s movies.
In an article in The New Yorker, film critic Justin Chang writes the film transports viewers back in time to 2019 and the #MeToo movement. He adds that, “‘After the Hunt’ doesn’t feel dated; as its title implies, it’s a period piece and it knows it.”
“Have we in the audience failed Maggie if we find her unpersuasive?” Chang asks. “Well, no: she’s a fictional character, and, as Alma peevishly points out during a seminar, fictional characters don’t need to be coddled; they’re there to be scrutinized, analyzed, and, if need be, torn down.”
“After the Hunt” opened the New York Film Festival on Sept. 26.