U.S. actress Julia Roberts has emphasized the importance of dialogue in public discourse, stating that “we are losing the art of conversation in humanity,” as she premiered her latest film addressing the subject of sexual assault at the Venice Film Festival.
The film, After The Hunt, centers on events at Yale University, where a student levels allegations of rape against a professor. Significantly, the narrative refrains from portraying either account—the student’s or the professor’s—as wholly credible, thereby deliberately creating ambiguity and casting doubt on both perspectives.
Roberts acknowledged the inherently provocative nature of the project, remarking: “We are challenging people to have conversation and to be excited by that or to be infuriated by that; it’s up to you.
Julia Roberts has described her new film After The Hunt as a work designed to ignite difficult conversations about sexual assault, morality, and truth.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, the drama follows Yale professor Alma (played by Roberts), who finds herself caught between her star pupil Maggie (Ayo Edebiri) and a colleague and close friend, Hank (Andrew Garfield), after an accusation of rape divides the academic community.
The film deliberately refuses to offer viewers a definitive perspective on whose account is truthful, a creative choice Roberts acknowledged would provoke debate. “There’s a lot of old arguments that get rejuvenated in this movie in a way that does create conversation,” she explained.
Asked about the mixed reaction at the festival—where some female journalists questioned the film’s moral positioning—Roberts said the ambiguity was intentional. “That’s how we wanted it to feel. Everyone comes out with 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.”
For Roberts, the goal was not to offer resolution but to reignite public discourse: “It’s not so much that we’re making a statement, we’re just sharing these lives for this moment, and then want everyone to go away and talk to each other. That to me is the most exciting bit, because we’re kind of losing the art of conversation in humanity right now.”
The film is directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Challengers, A Bigger Splash) from a script by actress-turned-screenwriter Nora Garrett in her debut screenplay. Edebiri, best known for The Bear, praised the complexity of the project: “Being challenged by the type of character in the best way, by each other—that’s how you grow. I love movies where you go back and realize your perspective has completely shifted by the end.”
As Alma shifts allegiances throughout the film, Roberts rejected suggestions that the story reinforces outdated anti-feminist narratives. “I don’t necessarily think it’s reviving just an argument of women being pitted against each other or not supporting each other,” she argued. “There’s a lot of old arguments that get rejuvenated in this movie in a way that does create conversation.”
After The Hunt will be released later this year by Amazon, where its moral ambiguity is expected to spark similarly heated public debate.#newsafro_
