‘This is what you did…’
Writer-director Alex Garland has had a curious career thus far. He found fame with his excellent debut novel The Beach before moving into scriptwriting with 28 Days Later and Sunshine before embarking on a directing career resulting in two well received if divisive films in the shape of Ex-Machina and Annihilation. Rather than rest on his laurels, Garland has returned with a film that is even more strange and even more radical than its predecessors…
Harper (Jessie Buckley) wants to escape from her life in London following the traumatic death of her abusive ex-husband James (Paapa Essiedu). To facilitate this, she decides that a solo vacation to the English countryside is just what she needs. Following a disturbing encounter with a wild eyed, naked stranger (Rory Kinnear), it soon becomes clear that this will not be the relaxing getaway that Harper hoped for.
I will begin by saying that Men is probably best enjoyed with absolutely no prior knowledge of the central conceit or of the finer details of the plot. If you haven’t seen Garland’s latest project, I urge you to stop reading this and go watch it now. Go on. Do as you’re told. Right. With that out of the way, let us begin.
The main talking point of Men is that all the men in the small village to which Harper has escaped are played by Rory Kinnear. Often with heavy make up or prosthetics. To say that this is disconcerting doesn’t do justice to just how bizarre this film is. Whilst visually stunning, it is also maddeningly esoteric, and its central message – a seeming riposte to the ‘not all men’ brigade – feels a little too on the nose to really hit home. That being said, there are moments of visual ingenuity here that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled and there is no denying that both Buckley and Kinnear are astonishing here. Buckley’s performance is particularly powerful and it surely won’t be long before she adds to her sole Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Oscars.
Your opinion of Men will depend on how willing you are to indulge a surrealist flight of fancy with no clear resolution. Me? I loved it. A minor horror classic.