Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt”, is a film about wealth, class, power, sex, and, most importantly, nothing at all. It has so many points to make, yet somehow continuously fails at making just one.
The film opens at a dinner party, with the scholars Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), Alma (Julia Roberts), and Hank (Andrew Garfield) strewn about on couches and on top of one another. It’s impossible at first to tell their relationships with one another, which is entirely the point. The film’s dialogue is drenched in pretentious words and ideas, as one scholar claims that straight white men are now the enemy. He is quickly torn apart by the two female leads. Maggie, the only Black character in the movie, tells him it is performative discomfort, “Culture is just pretending not to prefer these things. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t prefer them.”
Despite this claim, “After the Hunt” cannot help but belittle Maggie’s experience as a Black female in a scholastic field. There are dozens of comments throughout the movie claiming that the younger generation (which Maggie’s character is designed to represent) is weak, and unable to deal with hardships. “Shall I make a world for you with the edges rounded out?” Alma asks Maggie in response to Maggie’s sexual assault. “After the Hunt” seems to despise youth, which only reminds the viewer of the initial conversation regarding performative discomfort. The movie performs discomfort with the status quo, yet 90% of “After the Hunt” is wealthy white elites belittling and spitting on a younger generation’s experience because it’s different from theirs. Alma actively advises Maggie against rocking the boat and seems to only perceive progress in the way she’s experienced it. She’s paved the way for young women in her field, so why should Maggie step in a different direction? Multiple characters describe rich kids as “filthy,” targeting Maggie specifically, despite her stark disadvantage of being a Black woman in a largely white male dominated field. This contradiction is most likely intentional, but “After the Hunt” doesn’t go anywhere subversive with the claims it’s making, giving the audience no choice but to take its message at face value.
Part of the confusion on messaging stems from each character being very unlikable, with few (if any) redeeming qualities. The movie regards Maggie and Hank as if they’re both egoist and manipulative characters with skeletons in their respective closets. The comparison falls flat when his skeleton is being accused of sexual assault, and hers is…being a filthy rich kid?
The many elements “After the Hunt” handles have the potential to weave a very complex but interesting narrative about how some in a position of power might preach progressive ideals, but that only lasts as long as it’s not inconveniencing or hindering their own reputation and future. Which is why it makes it all the more disappointing when Guadagnino fails to live up to the hefty challenge “After the Hunt” poses.
The real crime of “After the Hunt” is not the ideas it presents, but its lack of commitment to them. This film criticizes every single side of culture, without ever actually making a thoughtful critique about it. Guadagnino seems to think that just the brief mention of complex ideas will make his movie complex by association, but unfortunately it fails to tie up a cohesive narrative, let alone critique.
“After the Hunt” will be in theatres everywhere on October 17th.
