Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt is the latest entry in a bizarre string of thought pieces, (see Apple TV’s The Morning Show), which appear to aim to explore the hypocrisy of cancel culture, pushing back against “#MeToo” and “woke” by asking one central question – “yeah but, did he really do it?”

At least, that’s what I think it was. Amidst the wooden dialogue, overblown runtime, senseless subplots and infuriating pretence of the thing, it was quite difficult to decipher a) what this film wanted to say, and b) whether it wanted to say anything at all.

The premise is admittedly strong, as is the cast. The central roles are occupied by Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri, with Andrew Garfield and Michael Stuhlbarg supporting. Roberts plays Alma Imhoff, a well-regarded Yale University philosophy professor and bastion of feminism, who is on track to secure tenure alongside her sleazebag stroke colleague stroke potential lover Hank, portrayed by Garfield. Edebiri plays Trumpian nightmare Maggie – a rich, ambitious black student whose mediocrity is mitigated by her too-close-for-comfort relationship with Roberts’ Alma. Stuhlbarg, on the other hand, is an infuriating sideshow as Roberts’ husband Frederik, whose over the top affection for his uninterested wife is a constant source of cringe, serving no purpose to the plot whatsoever. Following a boozy intellectual circle jerk, or “party,” at Frederik and Alma’s home, Maggie is walked back to her student apartment by aforementioned lothario Hank. She later appears on Alma’s doorstep, accusing Hank of ambiguous sexual misconduct – forcing Alma into a choice between her professional integrity and her relationship with Garfield, all grease-ball haircut and button-down Ralph Lauren shirts.

What unfolds could have been fascinating. The elements could have lent themselves to an intriguing exposition of class, the murky waters of academia, or the limits to which we are willing to go to do what is right. Quite obviously, there could also have been a discussion of what accusing somebody of sexual assault means, particularly somebody in power. There could have been an allusion to Edebiri’s bravery, a conversation about exploitation, or a reminder of how commonplace all of this really is. Unfortunately, there was absolutely none of that.

Instead, what is serves up is a self-flagellating mess. From a directorial standpoint, all we get are non-sensical close ups of character’s hands, and an imposing soundtrack which *ticks* persistently, presumably in order to create tension, despite the scenes unfolding being about as tense as an episode of Peppa Pig. The script is also unapologetically woeful. Presumably in an attempt to elevate the intellectualism of the exercise, scenes of Garfield, Roberts et al discussing philosophical concepts and writers are ceaselessly pigeonholed. These moments feel like hours. They are nonsensical, tedious, and do nothing other than relay to the viewer that the writers watched a Youtube video about Immanuel Kant the night previous. The dialogue throughout the film is suitably crass and uninventive, with the particular highlight in this regard undoubtedly belonging to a moment whereby, when confronted by Edebiri’s non-binary lover, Roberts’ Alma proudly states “They – go away.”

At its core, in a manner that seems to mirror Garfield’s Hank’s attempts to button his shirt, After the Hunt has absolutely no idea what it is trying to do. Any effort made to place Edebiri at the centre of the story is sidelined by a senseless side plot involving Alma’s unexplained health issues or her husband hanging bras in a bathroom. Any attempt to discuss the folly of student activism or the privilege of “today’s generation” is foiled by petulance from the forces behind the film, usually in the guise of intentionally misgendering non-binary characters or terming their college essays mediocre. Any attempt to say anything, literally anything at all, is drowned out by the aforementioned infuriating soundtrack or a repeated cut scene to Alma’s husband kissing her forehead while she is in bed. The entire thing is infuriatingly opaque, choppy, and as a result, unrelentingly disappointing.

I say disappointing not only because of the obvious quality of the cast or usual standards of the director, but because of what this After the Hunt represents. Throughout, the entire thing felt like an attempt to shine a light on the stupidity of the youth, the folly of the left and the ridiculous nature of cancel culture. Is such a discussion really necessary? Would it have killed the film to at any stage come out and say, yes, rape is bad? Is there any merit at all to villainising student protestors in a climate where they are expelled for speaking out about violence in Palestine, or threats to minorities? Surely the answer is no. Further, The whole vibe of the film was that it seemed to think its ideas were original. In reality, nobody contests that college students are privileged, nobody contests that students are idealistic, and nobody contests that the new generation fails to fetishise pain in the ways that the older one did. Does that mean it’s valid to make those points in a film that’s ostensibly about a college lecturer raping a student? Again, surely the answer is no.

The classlessness of this entire affair is summated by Guadagnino’s choice to pay homage to Woody Allen, a man accused of molesting his adopted daughter, in the film’s opening credits. There, Guadagnino borrows Allen’s font and lists the film’s actors in alphabetical order in Allen’s characteristic style. Taken at its very best, this is a satirical move which is not very funny. Taken at its worst, it is tipping the cap to somebody who is accused of molesting his own daughter in a film which is again, on its face about rape.

One joke that does land, however, is that a film critiquing the pretence of youth runs for nearly two and a half hours – and centers on a Yale philosophy professor, of all people, as its wronged man. Maybe it is for the best that this couldn’t say what it wanted to – what it did manage to splutter out was not all that interesting.

After the Hunt is in cinemas from Oct 17

Featured Image Credit