On the very least, “After the Hunt” succeeds as a movie that can provoke conversations, and that was the intention behind Julia Roberts attaching herself because the star of the newest Luca Guadagnino movie being launched by Amazon/MGM Studios. (It’s out October 10.)
“We wished it to really feel that everybody comes out with all these totally different emotions and feelings and factors of view. You understand what you consider in strongly, what your convictions are. Stir all of it up for you. So, you’re welcome,” mentioned the “Erin Brockovich” Oscar winner in the course of the Friday press convention for the movie premiering on the 82nd Venice Movie Competition, out of competitors.
In “After the Hunt,” Roberts performs Yale College philosophy professor Alma, who’s caught in the course of a battle between her favourite colleague Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield) and her favourite scholar Maggie Worth (Ayo Edebiri). Just like “Challengers” final 12 months, the movie sees Guadagnino tackle a script from a first-time screenwriter: this time, Nora Garrett. Sadly, lightning doesn’t strike twice.
The movie has each an excessive amount of and never sufficient to say concerning the #MeToo and cancel culture-related subjects it tries to dive into, however even making that try really favors its awards prospects. Whereas Roberts by no means absolutely will get any grand, sweeping moments, she holds the body as a morally obscure character not completely in contrast to Lydia Tár, although right here she is extra enabler than predator.
Even when somebody have been to take problem with “After the Hunt,” Friday’s Venice press convention proved Roberts might nonetheless impress in her evaluation and understanding of the themes. “It’s not a lot that we’re making a press release. We’re simply sharing these lives for this second, after which need everybody to go away and speak to one another,” she mentioned. “That, to me, is probably the most thrilling bit, as a result of we’re type of shedding the artwork of dialog in humanity proper now.” Earlier within the press convention, Guadagnino defined the movie’s opening homage to Woody Allen — a response that has since made headlines and can solely gas additional debate round a film with a sexual-assault accusation at its heart.
If there’s a standout actor, from an awards perspective, it’s Garfield veering nearer than ever again to his breakout efficiency as Eduardo Saverin in “The Social Community,” his first time as a Greatest Supporting Actor contender. Right here, Emmy winner Edebiri’s character accuses Garfield’s assistant professor of assaulting her after a celebration, and the movie tracks his speedy psychological dissolution and disgraced tutorial standing with some standout moments. Garfield does get one throwdown tantrum scene in a hallway in opposition to Roberts’ character that would make for an awards-suited excerpt on his finish.
“When our motivations are invisible, even to ourselves, all of us are unreliable narrators, and particularly in a tradition the place survival is paramount,” he informed the press corps as to why he wished to play the risky Hank. “As regular human beings will behave animalistically after we are ready the place we really feel prefer it’s life and dying.”
Edebiri shouldn’t be as fortunate, which is a bit anticipated contemplating how she bears the burden of enjoying the “woke” character, however can be the one Black lady above the road who might converse to the racial nuances.
In the meantime, it has been over a decade since Roberts’ final Oscar nomination, for the equally uneven “August: Osage County,” however once more the divisiveness performs to her strengths. A spotlight of the movie’s press convention is her cheekily beginning her reply with “to not be unpleasant, as a result of it’s not in my nature,” earlier than pushing again at a query about if “After the Hunt” units again the feminist motion.
There’s a world through which the actress as soon as often called America’s sweetheart can flip the tide her manner, with voters nominating her for Greatest Actress as a vote of confidence towards her purposefully polarizing character. Although this isn’t the movie that can lastly earn Guadagnino a Greatest Director nomination, it does function one other instance of how he tees up his stars to succeed.