Mini-Reviews: After the Hunt / Sorry, Baby / Architecton

I’ve been very busy over the past few days, so I’ve decided to knock out some of the newer releases I’ve seen in one post! Maybe I’ll do some more of these often and save some of the films I’ve seen with some more I have to say. So, here are three movies I’ve seen recently.

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After the Hunt

"Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable."

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Cast: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloë Sevigny
Synopsis: “A college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues, and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.”

What I got most out of Luca Guadagnino’s latest film is not the #MeToo movie that the trailer makes it out to be, although I would’ve been perfectly fine with that with this cast. After the Hunt is a story about “good optics” and how even something as serious as sexual assault allegations can be warped of it benefitting you, or in the case of Julia Roberts’ professor, bringing your own personal matters to light. The cast here is great, with Roberts being my favorite performance here. Garfield as the accused(?) and Edebiri as the accuser(?) are also great, but the script from first time screenwriter Nora Garrett is… certainly a first-timer. Guadagnino’s direction is really what sold it for me, though.

Ryan’s Grade: B+



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Sorry, Baby

"Welcome to the world."

Director: Eva Victor
Cast: Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Louis Cancelmi, Kelly McCormack, Lucas Hedges, and John Carroll Lynch
Synopsis: “Agnes feels stuck. Unlike her best friend, Lydie, who’s moved to New York and is now expecting a baby, Agnes still lives in the New England house they once shared as graduate students, now working as a professor at her alma mater. A ‘bad thing’ happened to Agnes a few years ago and, since then, despite her best efforts, life hasn’t gotten back on track.”

This came from Sundance way back in January, and I’m glad I finally got to watch this, albeit it from home. Sorry, Baby really surprised me with how light it felt. This is a movie that, like After the Hunt, deals with very heavy topics like sexual assault, but for the most part, we just see the aftermath and hop around different glimpses of Agnes’s life. Writer-director-star Eva Victor feels like the real deal with just one movie under their belt, and what hit me hard was that with all of these shifts in tone, it still felt so well put together. It weaves through heartbreaking, hilarious, and downright terrifying scenes without taking me out of it. There’s also a great scene set at a sandwich shop that just landed with me so well. Very big recommendation here.

Ryan’s Grade: A-



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Architecton

"How do we inhabit the world of tomorrow?”

Director: Viktor Kossakovsky
Synopsis: “An epic, intimate, and poetic meditation on architecture and how the design and construction of buildings from the ancient past reveals our destruction – and offer hope for survival and a way forward.”

Did you ever want to watch rocks and buildings fall in slow motion for 100 minutes? Architecton is mostly that, and that paired with Evgueni Galperine’s ambient score make this a very hypnotic watch. There are some interludes here and there with architect Michele de Lucchi to try and tie these falling structures to how buildings were meant to last back during the ancient times – the Coliseum in Rome is still here, after all – and how concrete buildings only last fifty years now, but I have to admit, I would’ve liked to see some more exploration into that. It really is rocks falling in slow motion for maybe 85-90 minutes of the movie. If you like Koyaanisqatsi, Architecton definitely falls into that same category.

Ryan’s Grade: B