Julia Roberts' character, Alma, is afflicted with a painful condition throughout After the Hunt, and there's a clear motivator behind why it worsens as the film progresses. The 2025 psychological drama film from Challengers director Luca Guadagnino stars Roberts as a professor at Yale who is involved in a scandal regarding one of her students and fellow colleagues.
Right from the start, it's made clear that Roberts' philosophy professor is suffering from a painful physical condition, which she endures with the help of frequent medication. The reason behind this condition and why it progressively gets more painful throughout After the Hunt is tied intrinsically to the film's plot and themes.
After the Hunt also stars The Bear's Ayo Edebiri, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Andrew Garfield. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025, before releasing theatrically on October 10 and subsequently becoming available to stream on Prime Video.
What Is Wrong With Julia Roberts' Alma In 'After the Hunt'?
The first hint that Alma is suffering from an ailment is presented during the opening party scene at Alma and Frederik's house. The duo is hosting a gathering for their fellow colleagues and students, and it's revealed that Alma has recently returned to her tenure after a bout of medical leave. Alma had to take time off due to periods of intense pain, and she's been taking prescription medication for it frequently throughout After the Hunt.
Soon, it's revealed that Alma's affliction stems from stomach ulcers, which cause her to double over and sometimes vomit in intense moments of pain. Alma manages to keep a lid on this via her medication, but her ulcers are increasingly aggravated by the stress she experiences in the movie.
In After the Hunt, Alma is caught in the middle of accusations shared by a trusted student, Maggie (Edebiri), and her colleague, Hank (Garfield). After Maggie confides in Alma that Hank assaulted her, and Hank confides in Alma that these allegations are false, Roberts' character finds herself pulled between two different sets of truths.
The stress of the situation steadily increases the pain Alma is suffering from her stomach ulcers. At one desperate point, she tries to forge herself a prescription for more pain medication via the medical pad of her colleague, Kim. Alma is discovered, and her tenure is paused, adding more stress to her mounting plate.
Things begin to culminate as more secrets are revealed. It's revealed that Alma is a sexual assault survivor, and that she and Hank had an affair, which Hank attempts to rekindle. Maggie also goes to Rolling Stone, which publishes an exposé on Alma and Yale about how the institution has poorly handled Maggie's testaments.
The mounting stress of this situation causes Alma's stomach ulcers to perforate, and she is hospitalized in the final act. This all leads to Alma's deepest confession to her husband from her hospital bed: she was having an affair with an older man when she was 15, and when he left her, she fabricated rape allegations against him, which ultimately led to his committing suicide.
The resurgence in Maggie and Hank's case has only served to resurface these traumatic truths, the stress of which lands Alma in the hospital. However, a time jump and epilogue in After the Hunt confirm that Alma recovered from her ordeal and went on to become the Dean at Yale.
Overall, Alma's condition reflects After the Hunt's themes, as the burden of truth and the stress of keeping secrets result in these anxieties literally eating away at Alma from the inside.
