“After the Hunt” is a slippery study of our desire to wield power

In what seem like pivotal moments during director Luca Guadagnino’s new film, “After the Hunt,” conversations between characters are all but drowned out by music. Tense discussions of life-altering events are matched by the diegetic decibels of smooth jazz or string symphonies. Elsewhere, the audio drops out completely, replaced by the noise of a ticking clock that lingers just long enough to make the viewer squirm in their seat. And sometimes, an otherwise unexceptional sequence in the film is interrupted by a discordant two-note sucker punch; a jumpscare with no scare, courtesy of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ typically superb score, signaling a shift in the swirling power dynamics at play. It doesn’t totally matter what a character is saying or doing in these moments, because their int