Julia Roberts, America’s eternal sweetheart, has once again proven why she’s one of Hollywood’s most enduring forces. In Luca Guadagnino’s gripping psychological thriller After the Hunt, now available on Prime Video as of November 20, 2025, Roberts sheds her rom-com crown for a role that’s as intellectually ferocious as it is emotionally raw. This isn’t the smiling Erin Brockovich or the radiant Pretty Woman — this is Roberts at her most layered, commanding the screen as a Yale philosophy professor unraveling under the weight of secrets, accusations, and moral ambiguity.

Directed by the visionary behind Call Me by Your Name and Challengers, After the Hunt marks Guadagnino’s bold foray into #MeToo-era academia. Roberts stars as Alma Imhoff, a brilliant but guarded professor vying for tenure when her star student Maggie (Ayo Edebiri, in a breakout dramatic turn) accuses Alma’s colleague and friend Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield) of sexual assault. What unfolds is a taut, intellectually charged drama that probes the gray areas of truth, power, and belief in an age of cancel culture.

The plot kicks off at a faculty party in 2019, spiraling into chaos as conflicting testimonies emerge. Alma, idolized by Maggie as a feminist beacon, finds her own past haunting her — a dark secret from years abroad in Africa that threatens to surface. As investigations mount, alliances fracture: Hank’s denial clashes with Maggie’s conviction, while Alma’s husband Frederick (Michael Stuhlbarg) and other faculty (including Chloë Sevigny) navigate the fallout. Guadagnino masterfully weaves racial subtext — Maggie’s character race-swapped to Black — adding layers to power dynamics without preaching.

Roberts is the film’s monumental center. Her Alma is coiled steel: precise in lectures on Foucault, vulnerable in private moments of doubt. Critics rave about her “ferociously good” portrayal, with BBC Culture hailing it as potential Oscar bait — her second after Erin Brockovich. Garfield brings frantic energy to Hank, a denim-clad academic whose charm curdles under scrutiny, while Edebiri’s Maggie is a force: wealthy, brilliant, and unflinching. The ensemble, shot on 35mm for that lush Guadagnino texture, crackles with tension — think Tár meets The Undoing, but thornier.

Premiering at Venice Film Festival in August 2025 and hitting theaters October 10 before its quick Prime pivot, After the Hunt divided critics (38% on Rotten Tomatoes) but ignited debates. Some call it “toothless provocation,” coy on incendiary themes; others praise its ambiguity, refusing easy answers in a polarized world. Guadagnino insists it’s about “division in society,” ending with a 2025 epilogue that chillingly ties to real-world shifts.

At 139 minutes, it’s deliberate — slow-burn dread over jumpscares, with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score grinding like anxiety. Despite box-office struggles ($9M worldwide against $70-80M budget), streaming has resurrected it as a conversation starter. Roberts earned $20M, proving her draw endures.

After the Hunt isn’t comfortable viewing, but that’s the point. Roberts, at 58, reminds us she’s fearless — dissecting morality with the precision her character wields in the lecture hall. If you crave smart, adult thrillers that linger like a bad conscience, this is unmissable. 10/10? For Roberts alone, absolutely.