A Stacked Cast Does Their Best In This Ham-Fisted and Wandering Wannabe Analysis of Cancel Culture
“After the Hunt” shows firsthand how a screenplay is the most important aspect of filmmaking. Because damn, no matter how awesome a cast you have (and this cast is awesome) or how good a director you have (Guadagnino can be hit and miss, honestly, but when he’s on he’s ON) a rough script can just bulldoze a movie’s quality.
Because, as much scenery as Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield chew, and as much freakily intimate and stylish shots Guadagnino tosses into the mix, the best attributes of “After the Hunt” can’t outrun a script that seemingly is trying to speak to the grey area of cancel culture, but in the most obvious, clunky, and broad kind of ways. The movie seems to be aiming to say something along the lines of “cancel culture isn’t as black and white as you think,” but don’t we … know that already? Writing a movie about how run of the mill humans are complicated and not all bad or not all good isn’t as novel as the screenwriter, Nora Garrett, seems to think it is.
On top of this hammer-to-the-head “CANCEL CULTURE CAN BE BAD SOMETIMES” message, the script also seems to be desperately trying to prove how smart it is by being as cynical and wordy as possible, a formula which doesn’t necessarily equal intelligence. Insufferable, irredeemable characters speak in insufferable, overly convoluted dialogue most of the time, the excuse being that they’re all educated or in academia but can be eye-rollingly bad, especially in two pretty terrible scenes that bookend the movie.
All of this is a shame, given the cast and direction, of course, but also because there does eventually seem to be something interesting about the nature of truth and perspective here, but it’s a whisper in a world of thematic shouting. What a wasted opportunity this was.