The prestigious New York Film Festival will open its 63rd edition with After the Hunt, the new feature film by Luca Guadagnino starring Julia Roberts. The film, which will have its North American premiere on September 26 at the iconic Alice Tully Hall, centers on the impact of a sexual assault allegation within an Ivy League campus.

Roberts plays Alma Olsson, a Yale philosophy professor whose professional and personal life is upended when her PhD protégé accuses a close colleague — played by Andrew Garfield — of sexual assault. The story explores how the veil of academic privilege begins to crack as Alma must confront dilemmas of gender, race, institutional power, and long-buried secrets. The cast also includes Michael Stuhlbarg, Ayo Edebiri, and Chloë Sevigny, with a screenplay by Nora Garrett and production by Amazon MGM Studios.

For Guadagnino, known for titles like Call Me by Your Name and Queer, returning to this festival is “an honor and a tremendous responsibility.” “I have always considered the New York Film Festival a benchmark for global cinema. It’s a place where audiences open themselves to bold and moving works, and I’m delighted to return with this story about morality and power,” the director said.

The festival’s artistic director, Dennis Lim, emphasized that After the Hunt “confirms Guadagnino as one of the most versatile and daring filmmakers working today.” “It’s a complex, grown-up film — something increasingly rare in contemporary cinema — and at the same time deeply entertaining,” he added.

The film will have its world premiere days earlier at the Venice Film Festival before arriving in New York, a key stop for productions eyeing awards season. The festival will run through October 13 and in past editions has opened with films by directors such as Martin Scorsese, Joel Coen, and Todd Haynes.