VENICE, ITALY – AUGUST 29: Julia Roberts attends the “After The Hunt” photocall during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2025 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Corbis via Getty Images
After the Hunt — an upcoming drama starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield — is being met with a chilly reception by Rotten Tomatoes critics.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Queer), After the Hunt held its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on Friday.
Per the film’s logline, After the Hunt is “a gripping psychological drama about a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light.”
Rated R, After the Hunt also stars Chloë Sevigny and Michael Stuhlbarg.
As of Tuesday, Rotten Tomatoes critics have collectively given After the Hunt a 52% “rotten” rating based on 29 reviews.
RT’s Critics Consensus is still pending and the audience summary and Popcornmeter rating based on verified user ratings won’t be available until the film opens in theaters on Oct. 17.
What Are Rotten Tomatoes Critics Saying About Julia Roberts’ ‘After The Hunt’?
Stephanie Zacharek of TIME Magazine is among the top critics on Rotten Tomatoes who gives After the Hunt a “rotten” review, writing, “Why cast Julia Roberts only to sap all the life out of her? Her scenes with [Ayo]
Edebiri are particularly drab and circuitous.”
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter questions Luca Guadagnino’s direction of After the Hunt in his “rotten” review, writing in his RT review summary, “It seems almost implausible that the gifted filmmaker who just gave us the sizzling buoyancy of Challengers and the heady intoxication of Queer could deliver something so dour and airless.”
Also giving After the Hunt a “rotten” review on RT is Owen Gleiberman of Variety, who writes, “After the Hunt has been made with a fair amount of craft and intrigue, but it’s also a weirdly muddled experience — a tale that’s tense and compelling at times, but dotted with contrivances and too many vague unanswered questions.”
Peter Bradshaw of UK’s Guardian shares Gleiberman’s sentiments, writing in his RT review summary, “It is worryingly muddled and contrived, perhaps in need of further script drafts to excavate a clearer and more satisfying drama inside.”
Nicolas Barber of the BBC is among the top critics on RT who gives After the Hunt a “fresh” review — although he has some reservations — writing, “In theory, viewers of After the Hunt should leave the cinema arguing about its subject matter. In practice, they’re more likely to be asking each other what was going on and what it meant.”
Steve Pond of The Wrap also gives the film a “fresh” review, writing in his RT review summary, “After the Hunt does not make a strong case for moving to New Haven — though all those delicious moral dilemmas and snarky one-liners are a good reason for actors to continue to flock to [Luca] Guadagnino.”
Kevin Maher of UK’s The Times not only gives After the Hunt a “fresh” review, he makes a big prediction for the film’s lead, writing, “This will be, no question, [Julia] Roberts’s fifth Oscar nomination, and likely second win.”
After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield, is scheduled for an Oct. 17 release in theaters.
