Julia Roberts caught in #MeToo storm as new film sparks controversy at Venice Film Festival
Julia Roberts defends new film’s portrayal of assault allegation
- Julia Roberts has defended her new film, After the Hunt, against criticism regarding its ambiguous portrayal of a campus sexual assault allegation.
- Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, Roberts said the film aims to challenge audiences and provoke conversation, rather than making definitive statements or casting suspicion on survivors.
- Roberts plays Alma Olsson, a Yale philosophy professor whose life is disrupted when a colleague is accused of sexual assault by one of her students.
- “We are challenging people to have a conversation and to be excited by that or to be infuriated by that. It's up to you,” Roberts said.
- Director Luca Guadagnino said that the film explores the collision of competing perspectives and the pursuit of power within a politically charged academic environment.