While Bugonia and Jay Kelly have at least kept their Best Picture chances intact at the Venice Film Festival, it could be a different story for Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt. The #MeToo themed psychological thriller is playing out of competition at the Italian fest prior to its October 10th release. Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloë Sevigny make up the ensemble.
Early reviews have it at just 50% on Rotten Tomatoes and 56 on Metacritic. There was hope this could be the filmmaker’s strongest awards play since Call Me by Your Name (2017). The initial word-of-mouth certainly dilutes that notion.
Where could this still be viable? Even some middling to negative reviews indicate performance of Ms. Roberts is impressive enough to warrant a fifth nomination (she won in 2000 for Erin Brockovich). It will fascinating to monitor whether the overall general reaction will doom a potential first nod since 2013’s August: Osage County. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross could be noticed. As for other categories, Garfield and Edebiri (who I’ve predicted in the supporting fields for weeks) look more vulnerable than Hunt‘s leading lady. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…
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