“After the Hunt”: Julia Roberts is heading for her second Oscar

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Scene from the film "After the Hunt": A woman with a frightened look, behind her a man

As of: October 17, 2025 2:58 p.m

Julia Roberts is still one of the biggest Hollywood stars of our time. In the new film “After the Hunt” she plays a professor who gets caught up in a scandal. The question arises: who is good here and who is evil?

A convivial academic evening at the US elite University of Yale. Professors and students sit on luxurious sofas, they know each other, they are familiar. And after a lot of alcohol has been consumed, the discussion becomes a little more heated:

“Your whole generation is afraid of saying the wrong thing.”
“Since when is insulting someone a mortal sin?”
“I would say since your generation started making blanket judgments about our generation.”
“Being ashamed of your own thoughts, for whatever reason, is absolute nonsense!”

Movie scene

Alma Olsson, aka Julia Roberts, rolls her eyes at this sentence. Discourses like the one she just witnessed are part of her everyday life.

#MeToo issue in focus of “After the Hunt”

Alma is a professor of philosophy and her permanent position at Yale is imminent. Best friend and only competitor is Hank, who likes to flirt with his students. Especially with the talented Maggie. And one evening that has consequences:

“Hank walked me home and wanted a nightcap. I thought: Why not, he’s Hank after all. Everyone likes Hank.”
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“He crossed a line.”

Movie scene

At the Venice Film Festival, Julia Roberts said about the film’s #MeToo theme: “This film doesn’t take a position. But what I really like is the perspective of director Luca Guadagnino, who sees love and the ability to forgive in his film. He has a great desire to understand others.”

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“After The Hunt” isn’t exactly a big screen comeback for the 57-year-old – Roberts has made a film every year for the past few years – but it is her most powerful role in a long time. As Alma Olsson, even if she is not directly involved, she is increasingly drawn into the #MeToo scandal and finds herself caught between the fronts.

Roberts on challenges at US universities: “It’s horrific”

Julia Roberts has come a long way since her breakthrough with “Pretty Woman”: comedies, thrillers and, in recent years, highly acclaimed TV series. It was always the character roles of strong, life-challenged women in which Roberts shone. For example in the legal drama “Erin Brokovich,” which won her the Oscar for best actress in 2001.

Now she surprises us once again with the courage to play a character that we as viewers are ambivalent about. Because the characters in “After the Hunt” act controversially and are never really likeable. Especially not Robert’s character Alma Olsson. The film also puts its finger on another wound. US universities have been under attack by the Trump administration for months. Julia Roberts is also feeling this more and more privately: “It’s horrible. Reading the newspaper every day is an exercise in controlled breathing space. I have three children in college, and their perspective is so valuable to me because they have this experience every day.”

“After the Hunt” asks serious questions. Who acts under what conditions? Who is good here and who is bad? A film that always shakes up its viewers.

Scene from the film "After the Hunt": A woman with a frightened look, behind her a man

After the Hunt

Genre:
Drama
Thriller
Year of production:
2025
Country of production:
USA, Italy
Additional info:
with Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield and others
Director:
Luca Guadagnino
Long:
139 minutes
Age recommendation:
from 12 years
Cinema release:
16 October 2025
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