NEW YORK (OSV News) – Despite the occasional push-back against political correctness in Nora Garrett's script, viewers committed to traditional values will find themselves adrift in director Luca Guadagnino's psychological thriller "After the Hunt" (Amazon MGM). Considered from an artistic point of view, moreover, the film is talky, pretentious and tiresome.

Opening scenes introduce us to Yale University philosophy professor Alma Imhoff (Julia Roberts). Following a party at the apartment Alma shares with her somewhat eccentric psychiatrist husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg), her faculty colleague and close friend Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield) leaves in the company of Alma's protege, grad student Maggie Resnick (Ayo Edebiri).

The next day, Maggie appears on her idolized mentor's doorstep in a disheveled and distraught condition to inform Alma that Hank sexually assaulted her. As the incident burgeons into a campuswide scandal, Alma quickly finds herself caught in the middle of the escalating conflict between these two.

On the verge of receiving tenure but battling a secret illness and grappling with her complicated marriage, Alma is unsure whom to believe or whose side she should take. A mysterious event in her past, of which Maggie has accidentally become aware, also influences Alma's response to the situation, though the details of this episode are only made clear to the audience much later.

Glimmers of initial interest in Alma's dilemma are kept glowing briefly by the gifted cast. But they're ultimately quenched by an atmosphere of insufferable intellectual pompousness as well as by a self-indulgent lack of editing that leads to a needlessly extended running time.

The film contains brief, distant pornographic images, mature themes, lesbian and nonbinary characters, several uses of profanity, a couple of milder oaths, as well as pervasive rough and some crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - -CAPSULE REVIEW"After the Hunt" (Amazon MGM)Talky, pretentious psychological thriller, directed by Luca Guadagnino, in which a Yale University philosophy professor (Julia Roberts) finds herself caught in the middle of a campus scandal after a graduate student who idolizes her (Ayo Edebiri) accuses a faculty colleague and close friend (Andrew Garfield) of sexual assault. On the verge of receiving tenure but battling a secret illness and grappling with a complicated marriage (to psychiatrist Michael Stuhlbarg), the academic is unsure whose side she should take. Glimmers of initial interest in the protagonist's dilemma are kept glowing briefly by the gifted cast but are ultimately quenched by an atmosphere of insufferable intellectual pompousness as well as by a self-indulgent lack of editing that leads to a needlessly extended running time. Despite the occasional push-back against political correctness, traditional values are nowhere to be found. Brief, distant pornographic images, mature themes, lesbian and nonbinary characters, several uses of profanity, a couple of milder oaths, pervasive rough and some crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - -CLASSIFICATION"After the Hunt" (Amazon MGM) -- OSV News classification, A-III -- adults. Motion Picture Association rating, R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - - John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on X @JohnMulderig1.