Human beings are complex; everyone holds multiple truths with competing motivations and priorities, and you can’t really reach the truth by simply asserting your certainty. Tomris Laffly, rogerebert.com, regarding After the Hunt
Plenty of heady talk at the beginning of After the Hunt introduces us to the three main characters, each of whom inhabit philosophy academia at Yale in different ways—Alma (Julia Roberts), Hank (Andrew Garfield), and Maggie (Ayo Edebiri).
As this post is intended for those who’ve already seen After the Hunt, I’m placing the trailer here just as a reminder:
The following are my thoughts specific to a few select issues: the sexual assault allegation and the behavior of both agents of psychiatry, characters Fredrik and Kim.
But First, What Happens in This Movie?
Nicholas Barber, BBC: “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.”
That is to say, although the performances are excellent, the story is “muddled”—an exact word chosen repeatedly by film critics (NPR, The Guardian, Variety, etc.).
In a nutshell? Each main character, for various reasons, is unable to effectively deal with a tough situation.
The Sexual Assault Allegation
Regarding the alleged assault by Hank, (the college psychiatrist and) I find Maggie to be a believable victim. Hank’s later behavior with Alma, moreover, seems to prove he’s capable of rape.
Alma, “a woman defined by emotional guardedness and moral ambivalence” (Justin Chang, NPR), is unable to support either friend—or herself, for that matter. Personal and professional reasons for this abound, but the deepest and most significant isn’t revealed until the end—the teenage trauma she’s never dealt with. If she’s been knee-deep in denial and guilt for decades, how can she fairly and squarely perceive anyone else’s abuse?
Frederik, Psychoanalyst/Husband
Alma is married to psychoanalyst Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg), ever quick to express an insight. His professional knowledge can’t extend, however, toward understanding why his own marriage is deteriorating or what internal demons she’s fighting—including alcohol/pill dependence, extreme abdominal pain (turns out to be ulcers), and a troubled secret past.
This is understandable from multiple perspectives: he’s too close to the situation, it takes two to communicate effectively (and Alma doesn’t), and he’s a caretaking enabler. (Many caretaker personalities are drawn to becoming therapists or other helpers of some sort.)
When he (and we) finally find out Alma’s dark secret, though, Frederik seems instinctively empathic and compassionate, rightly able to tell her that her experience was one of abuse, not love, and that when she “lied” about the abuse occurring (before she retracted) it was actually the truth. The abuser’s subsequent suicide, moreover, was indeed not her fault.
Kim, Psychiatrist/Friend/Colleague of Alma
When Yale psychiatrist Kim (Chloë Sevigny) informs Alma that she finds Maggie’s assault allegation believable, Kim admits Maggie has consulted her professionally in the past. Therefore, this is a breach of confidentiality.
On the other hand, she does the right thing when she reports Alma for stealing her prescription pad in order to score pain medication, thereby not enabling her addiction.
Again, What Happens in This Movie?
For a spoiler review that explains things further, consider Barry Levitt‘s “What After the Hunt’s Ending is Really Trying to Say” (Time). Or Gerrad Hall‘s article at ew.com that features relevant thoughts of the director, Luca Guadagnino.
