During the press conference for Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” the Opening Night film of the 63rd New York Film Festival, the concept of “implicit bias” came up. In relation to this provocative film, the phrase couldn’t be more apt. In a story full of thorny characters with veiled backstories, Guadagnino once again provokes his audience, but not as a cackling madman looking to inflict misery. Instead, he’s a filmmaker with an unabashed love of cinema, forcing viewers to reckon with ethics and humanity through darker subjects. There’s perhaps no greater testament to the power of cinema than films or performances that make us feel repulsed by individuals we often adore and admire. Despite knowing that what we’re seeing on screen is the most heightened form of playing pretend, films such as “After the Hunt” have the power to make us feel incredibly uncomfortable. And Guadagnino, ever the master of subverting expectations, uses the central trio of characters he and screenwriter Nora Garrett created in a way that is nothing short of wildly exciting. In Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), Alma (Julia Roberts), and Hank (Andrew Garfield), the audience has the opportunity to see three beloved performers use the preconceived biases of their audience to play against type, yet still find ways to channel the traits that make them such screen icons to begin with. The question is, will it pay off in the shape of an Oscar nomination?
Perhaps the most shocking transformation among the three central performances in “After the Hunt” is Garfield’s. He’s quite simply one of the most charming on-screen actors working today. That charm was on full display in 2021’s “Tick, Tick… Boom!,” for which he received his second Best Actor nomination. Playing Jonathan Larson with such exuberance, Garfield spun his effortless charm into a performance that ultimately results in heart-shattering tragedy grounded in realism. He also showed total commitment to the role by being pitch-perfect in all the musical sequences. He should have won off the strength of his “Therapy” performance alone! Nevertheless, it’s fascinating to see how he weaponizes that same commitment and full-bodied charisma as Hank in “After the Hunt.”
From the moment he’s on screen, Garfield plays this character as quite the slimeball, and it permeates throughout the rest of the film. There’s a sleaziness to the way he carries himself. Guadagnino will hover the camera on him, capturing long-held embraces and slight asides that regularly border on creepy. It’s often shocking how casually everyone around him accepts it. Hank clearly has a history with many of these characters, and their lack of reaction conveys a sense of “that’s just Hank being Hank.” One character even says, “It’s Hank. Everybody loves Hank.” Hank has been able to commit this questionable behavior for so long, perhaps solely because of his charm. Because Garfield plays Hank as a man who thinks nothing of his actions, the film’s poisonous edge becomes especially apparent. It’s a common trait among “nice guys” who claim to be respectful and are “just having fun,” all the while engaging in behavior that’s creepy and discomforting. Seeing how Garfield performs as Hank when called out for this sort of behavior proves his chameleonic capabilities as a performer.
An incredibly famous moment in Garfield’s career comes courtesy of his performance in 2010’s “The Social Network.” We all know the scene: after playing much of the film somewhat reserved, he barges into the Facebook offices, bursting with justified anger and frustration. It’s an iconic example of an actor (in this case, literally) bursting onto the screen and cementing himself as someone to always keep an eye on. In “After the Hunt,” that fury is once again channeled. The key difference is that this time, it’s unjustified. It comes across as far more frightening for both the characters and the audience.
There’s an eerie quality to the way Garfield can shift from lackadaisical to storming anger on a scene-to-scene basis. Upon the initial accusation of sexual assault being made against him, Hank treats his sit-down with Alma to explain the situation as a casual hangout among old friends. He’s got a mouthful of naan while addressing what happened. He drums on the table. He even flirts with the waitress as she comes by, going so far as to check himself out in the mirror. If that weren’t enough, he then dares to bemoan the “unfairness” of his situation while mocking “brutal maleness” in his attempt to weasel out of any culpability. He’s more than happy to cite the current climate of academia and society at large to emphasize how little he considers his actions beyond the possibility of facing justified consequences. At first, it’s such a ridiculous display of Hank’s inability to look inward and perceive his actions as immoral and wrong. It’s a painfully realistic response, and to see Garfield harness that reaction with such ease is incredible. But “After the Hunt” makes it abundantly clear that Hank’s charming demeanor is merely a facade to hide the ugliness within.
So much of “After the Hunt” feels akin to a rotted core desperately hoping to reveal itself to the world, and Garfield certainly announces that reveal as loudly and frighteningly as possible. Shortly after his calm attempt to defuse the accusations against him, Hank arrives in the next scene absolutely livid. He literally bursts into the middle of a scene, and the explosive arrival recalls “The Social Network.” But Hank hasn’t earned a hint of the “hurt” he purports to feel. It’s clearly a case of feigned pain and betrayal meant to elicit sympathy in the face of his accusations. Notably, Guadagnino and Garrett never explicitly reveal what occurred between Maggie and Hank, so this constant battle of belief among the characters is integral to the ideas “After the Hunt” is toying with. And it’s that panicked, male-centric vitriol that makes Garfield’s performance such a treat to behold. In blaming any possible scapegoat he can conjure up, Garfield delivers a performance that never shies away from the ugly truths so prevalent in society. Guadagnino has never been the subtlest filmmaker, but his refusal to look away from a man flailing so wildly in a film full of female performances expertly withholding a variety of secrets and veiled intentions is a true privilege to watch. How Hank’s behavior clashes with the possibly surreptitious thoughts of Maggie and Alma plays beautifully.
“Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable,” says Alma to Maggie. The same can be said of this film to its audience and to the voting body of the Academy. This is a jaded film full of characters who all inspire discomfort. Hank, as a character, is painfully realistic in this way. He is shockingly self-aware yet refuses ever to acknowledge his disgusting behavior. To do so would be to admit that all the intellectualism he brings to the classroom or to dinner parties is a total fabrication. The rot within “After the Hunt,” particularly in Garfield’s performance, will understandably rub many the wrong way. But reckoning with likability is part of the film’s thematic core. On a metatextual level, it presents an exciting challenge for viewers who are massive fans of Garfield as an actor. To walk away from this film, repulsed by his behavior, as Hank is to be equally in awe of how the charisma that got Garfield cast as Spider-Man has been twisted into a frighteningly real depiction of male misogyny that doesn’t attempt to hide itself. In a year where Sean Penn has a surefire nomination for the blatant evil he captures so disgustingly in “One Battle After Another,,” recognizing Garfield’s performance might signal that voters are prepared to feel a bit more uncomfortable and provoked by the performances of their peers.
“After the Hunt” celebrated its North American premiere as the Opening Night film of the 63rd New York Film Festival and comes to theaters in limited release this weekend from Amazon MGM Studios.
Have you seen “After the Hunt” yet? If so, what did you think of it? Do you think Andrew Garfield can find himself in the Best Supporting Actor lineup? Please let us know in the comments section below and on Next Best Picture’s X account and check out the team’s latest Oscar predictions here.
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