Julia Roberts arrives in Venice ahead of After the Hunt premiere

Julia Roberts arrived in Venice on Aug. 27 ahead of the world premiere of After the Hunt later that week, turning heads at Marco Polo airport with a cardigan printed with multiple images of director Luca Guadagnino as she prepared to promote the Amazon MGM Studios psychological drama that debuted out of competition on Aug. 29 at the Venice Film Festival. Roberts, making her first appearance at the Lido, also took part in a photo call and a press conference where she defended the film’s treatment of fraught campus politics and the MeToo era.

Roberts touched down in a layered travel look—a black T shirt and Bermuda-length shorts topped by the eyecatching black and white cardigan bearing Guadagnino’s face, oversized black sunglasses and a black leather duffle. She later wore a custom Versace daytime outfit for the official photo call. The film’s cast includes Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri and Chloë Sevigny, and it was written by Nora Garrett and produced by Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody and Allan Mandelbaum.

At a sometimes tense press conference ahead of the premiere, Roberts pushed back on suggestions that After the Hunt was politically incorrect or undermined contemporary feminism....