DRAMA. “After the Hunt.” / “Ana.” / “Four Good Days.” / “Make Up” / “Flower.”

“After the Hunt” (2025, Amazon Prime) psychological thriller, follows a college professor caught in a sexual abuse accusation involving one of her students and a colleague. Directed by Luca Guadagnino from a script by Nora Garrett. Mr Guadagnino has a fine portfolio but I saw only one of his movies, 2022's “Bones and All,” starring Timothee Chalamet, which I liked.



       So “After…” is only the second Luca film that I saw. 

       First, let's get it out of the way: Julia Roberts' performance as Alma Imhoff, a Yale Univ professor deserves, at least a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination. 

       Sure, although the subject matter is tired cinematic material, it is still provocative. But that's all that I could get from this talky exercise: Provocation, intellectual spit, intrigue, and self-aggrandizing moralism (sic). Yet nothing amounts to something. It's all very vague, muddled, and I-don't-know. I slept midway. 🎥💻📽


“Ana” (2020, Tubi) comedy-drama. Set in the aftermath of the devastating 2017 Hurricane Maria, a struggling used car salesman and an 11-year-old girl embark on a road trip across Puerto Rico. 



       "Ana” is charming, funny, and engaging, due mostly to Dafne Keen's channeling of the youngster's infectious energy and streetwise cred. Meanwhile, Andy Garcia's quiet Rafa complimented and reinforced Dafne's performance. 🎥💻📽


“Four Good Days” (2020, Roku) drama film, follows a heroin-addicted woman, who asks her estranged mother for help in a final attempt to get sober. 


       This feature is based upon Eli Saslow's 2016 Washington Post article "How's Amanda? A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction.” Yet the story is no different from (drug addiction) stories that many experience. There is no way to tell this story other than the expected. 

       Glenn Close and Mila Kunis deliver sterling performances but the effort didn't do much to save the movie from falling into the cracks of melodramatic redundancy. 🎥💻📽


“Make Up” (2019, Tubi) British psychological thriller, follows 18-year-old Ruth as she moves to a dreary Cornish caravan park to be with her boyfriend but her suspicions of his infidelity, fueled by lipstick marks and red hair, unravel into an obsessive quest to find a mysterious red-haired woman. 



       This little movie started fine, starring an engaged Molly Windsor as Ruth, insecure and paranoid. And then the tension fizzled and climaxed into a lesbian tryst. That’s it. 🎥💻📽


“Flower” (2017, Roku) comedy-drama. Sexually curious teen Erica forms an unlikely bond with her mentally delicate stepbrother Luke. 




       The characters in this movie seem carved out of America's suburban dysfunction but the circumstances that got them in a bind seem preposterous. Lead star Zoey Deutch valiantly kept us glued with her smart mouth Erica but director Max Winkler's handling of the flimsy material eventually left our eyebrows arched. 🎥💻📽

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