“After the Hunt” Premieres at Venice Film Festival Amid Stirring Debate

Venice, August 29, 2025 - Luca Guadagnino’s psychological thriller After the Hunt had its world premiere today at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in Sala Grande on the Lido, drawing both acclaim for its lead performance and sparking conversation around its handling of campus sexual-assault themes.

Julia Roberts, attending her first Venice red carpet in the title role of Alma Olsson, a Yale philosophy professor, described the film as a catalyst for dialogue rather than a manifesto. “We are not making declarations; we are depicting these individuals during pivotal moments,” Roberts remarked during the festival press conference. “Ultimately, if this film achieves anything, it’s to spark conversations among people”.

The narrative follows Alma as she grapples with a star student’s accusation against a colleague, Henrik Gibson (Andrew Garfield), while confronting a secret from her own past. Roberts emphasized her enthusiasm for portraying a complex character caught in “a cascade of new obstacles” that make each day’s work “worthwhile”.

Critical response has been mixed but highlights Roberts’s performance:

• The Daily Telegraph awarded five stars, calling it a “devilish cancel-culture thriller” and declaring Roberts “back at her best”.
• Deadline praised Roberts’s “finest performance in years,” noting the film’s resonance with contemporary campus debates, though it described certain sequences as “tedious”.
• Variety lauded the film’s craft and tension but found its ambiguity sometimes frustrating, likening its narrative complexity to a “muddled ‘Tár’”.

Guadagnino’s choice to echo Woody Allen-style opening credits drew further discussion. He explained the homage as “an intriguing reference to an artist facing challenges regarding his persona and our responsibility in collaborating with artists we admire”.

After the Hunt will see a limited U.S. theatrical release on October 10 via Amazon MGM Studios, ahead of a wider rollout on October 17. The Venice premiere marks the film’s first public screening and sets the stage for what promises to be one of this fall’s most debated dramas.