Pop Culture Happy Hour — "After the Hunt"
Aired: October 14, 2025
Hosts: Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes
Episode Overview
This episode centers on the new film After the Hunt, directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Adebiri. The hosts delve into the film’s provocative handling of sexual assault allegations within an academic setting, its muddled thematic intentions, and its place among modern “MeToo” narratives. Harris and Holmes candidly debate the movie's ambiguity, craft, and ultimate effectiveness, offering rich analysis for listeners curious about this controversial drama.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Plot and Point of View
- Premise: Julia Roberts plays Alma, a Yale philosophy professor whose favorite student, Maggie (Ayo Adebiri), accuses colleague Hank (Andrew Garfield) of sexual assault after a department dinner. Alma is caught between loyalties and uncertainty, as both Hank and Maggie offer conflicting accounts.
- Perspective: The film stands out among “MeToo” stories by not centering on the perspective of the alleged victim, but rather from someone caught in the middle — someone who doesn't know the truth and is forced to decide what to do.
- Aisha Harris (05:56): "Most of those stories tend to be from the perspective of the person who was the victim, whereas this is from the perspective of someone who actually can't say for sure...I think that's an interesting entry point into this because it's very thorny, it's very complicated."
2. Character Complexity & Transactional Relationships
- Holmes praises Julia Roberts’ nuanced performance as Alma, especially in contrast to her earlier, more affable roles.
- Linda Holmes (04:19): “I think Julia Roberts is very good in this…she’s accessing a kind of a patrician distance that she’s actually better at than maybe some of her other more...giggly...early roles.”
- Alma’s decisions are shaped by self-interest, department power dynamics, and fear related to tenure considerations.
3. Ambiguity & Thematic Intentions
- The hosts focus on the film’s refusal to clarify the truth behind the allegations or the motivations of its characters.
- Linda Holmes (08:10): “She wouldn’t know...I think sometimes people think, well, maybe she'll get the clarity of absolute evidence, you know, one way or the other. She doesn't.”
- Both hosts critique the film for extending ambiguity to other aspects of the plot, making it incoherent rather than compellingly uncertain.
- Aisha Harris (06:31): “[Guadagnino] said something along the lines of...‘[I wanted to] show all the possibilities of truth without saying one point of view is most valuable.’ Which to me kind of reads like, I'm just going to make sure that I don't actually take a stance."
4. Intersectionality & Representation
- The film’s handling of Maggie — a queer Black woman whose wealthy family supports the university — draws mixed reactions. Harris wishes the complexity didn’t feel “accusatory.”
- Aisha Harris (13:21): “It's interesting to have a Black character who's not perfect and who we don't necessarily like. It is a very fine needle to thread…But it made me think of the show Industry...I think that show does a really good job…but this movie just kind of puts it out there in a way that felt to me accusatory.”
- The character is often reduced to “a collection of isms,” without deeper exploration or resolution, connecting to broader DEI debates (13:50–14:20).
5. Production, Craft, and Comparisons
- Holmes notes effective technical choices (editing, direct-to-camera shots, use of hands, score by Reznor & Ross), but says merits are outweighed by script and structural weaknesses.
- Linda Holmes (17:23): “There are a couple of abrupt shifts to the kind of straight on face into the camera…There are a lot of close ups of hands…This is a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score.”
- Both hosts compare After the Hunt to works like Doubt, which they argue handle ambiguity more effectively.
- Aisha Harris (11:21): “For Doubt...I think it does a good job of handling that murkiness in a way that this movie falls short on.”
6. Tone, Energy, and Watchability
- Harris found the film “boring” and lacking the dynamism of Guadagnino’s earlier films, suggesting the Yale/Ivy League setting contributes to its claustrophobic feeling.
- Aisha Harris (16:39): “I found this kind of boring. I think I could forgive it if it was a little bit...more weird and just...had a little bit more energy.”
- Holmes coins the film “a ‘Yeah, man, that’s the point’ movie,” indicating that ambiguity is posited as profundity, but comes off unsatisfying.
- Linda Holmes (17:53): “You come to the end of the movie and you're like. But I didn't really understand, like, what was she talking about at this point? Yeah, man, that's the point.”
Notable Quotes & Moments
On Julia Roberts’ performance:
- (04:19 – Linda Holmes): “I think Julia Roberts is very good in this...This is one of her more straightforward dramatic performances where she's accessing a kind of a patrician distance.”
On Alma’s transactional worldview:
- (05:38 – Linda Holmes): “…She has set up all her relationships to be so transactional that when they are suddenly upended...she doesn't know whether to do the right thing or the most transactional thing.”
On ambiguity as cop-out:
- (06:31 – Aisha Harris): “I do want some sort of point of view that clarifies...I feel like this movie ends up being...a collection of things thrown together. I was just very baffled by that choice.”
On muddled plotting:
- (09:10 – Linda Holmes): “You can watch this whole movie, and to me, it's like, did he make that allegation as part of the inquiry? Did they talk about it? Did anybody investigate whether it's true? Like, it's all kind of jumped over.”
On MeToo and DEI representation:
- (13:21 – Aisha Harris): “It's interesting to have a Black character who's not perfect...but at the same time, Maggie's just this kind of like collection of isms and everything that people rail against.”
Philosophy as on-the-nose theme:
- (18:36 – Linda Holmes & Aisha Harris):
- Linda: “Yes, there's a story here about hypocrisy and people who study ethics but don't have any. And that's all true. I just think the whole thing...has some powerful moments...But a lot of the rest of it, I think they just felt like I liked it okay when I was watching it, but the more I think about it, the less I like it.”
- Aisha: "That's the point, man."
- Linda: "Yeah, that's the point."
Most Memorable Exchange:
- (19:27–19:55)
- Aisha: “Well, tell us what you think about after the hunt. Let us know if you get the point. I don't know, maybe you do. …We got enough of the point, I guess.”
- Linda: “We did. We did.”
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 03:09–04:06: Plot summary and first impressions
- 04:06–05:56: Julia Roberts’ performance; Alma as transactional
- 05:56–07:51: Film's perspective and ambiguity; authorship intent discussion
- 09:10–10:53: Holes in the film’s handling of inquiry and consequences
- 13:21–14:20: Intersectionality, DEI, and Maggie as a character
- 16:09–16:39: Opening dinner party scene and timeframes
- 17:23–17:53: Technical craft—editing, camera work, score
- 18:36–19:27: Final thoughts on tone, philosophy, and satisfaction
Tone & Closing Thoughts
The conversation was candid, incisive, and often wry, mirroring the hosts’ frustration with the film's commitment to ambiguity at the expense of both narrative and thematic clarity. Both Harris and Holmes appreciate strong performances (especially by Roberts) and some technical aspects, but ultimately find After the Hunt "muddled," unsatisfying, and, by the end, less impactful the more they reflect on it.
For further discussion or to share your own reactions, listeners are invited to connect via Facebook or Letterboxd, as mentioned by the hosts toward the episode’s conclusion.