Luca Guadagnino cemented his status as a Venice favorite Friday night, as his Julia Roberts–starrer After the Hunt drew a rapturous reception, and a 5+ minute standing ovation at its world premiere on the Lido.
The #MeToo-themed thriller sharply divided critics earlier in the day at its first press screenings, but the audience’s embrace of Italy’s leading auteur inside the Sala Grande cinema was unmistakable. The film drew a 5.5-minute standing ovation, with hoots of approval as Roberts and her fellow cast embraced before the crowd on the theater’s balcony.
After the Hunt is described as a psychological drama about a college professor played by Roberts, who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when her star student (Ayo Edebiri) accuses her colleague (Andrew Garfield) of assault. As events unfold, a dark secret from the professor’s past threatens to be revealed.
Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny also co-star in the film. Guadagnino directed from a script by Nora Garrett.
The Italian director and his cast walked a decidedly damp Venice red carpet on their way into the premiere, as the water city was hit with a deluge shortly before the screening got underway.
But it was all smiles when the credits rolled. The cast embraced and Roberts blew kisses into the crowd.
Roberts addressed the potentially provocative nature of the film at a press conference earlier in the day in Italy.
“There’s a lot of old arguments that get rejuvenated in this movie in a way that does create conversation,” she said in response to a journalist’s question about whether After the Hunt could be interpreted as anti-feminist. “The best part of your question is you talking about how you all came out of the theater talking about [the film], and that’s how we wanted it to feel — that everybody comes out with all these different feelings, emotions, and points of view. You realize what you believe in strongly and what your convictions are because we stir it all up for you.”
Guadagnino debuted most of his celebrated filmography in Venice, from his first feature, The Protagonists (1999), through I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), Suspiria (2018), Bones and All (2022), and Queer (2024). He won the festival’s Silver Lion for best director with Bones and All, his romantic horror film starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet as a pair of young cannibals in love.
Amazon MGM Studios releases After the Hunt in U.S. theaters on Oct. 17. The 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival runs Aug. 27-Sept. 6.
