Men – Ambitious Yet Messy Topical Horror (Early Review)

The latter half of the 2010s gave audiences an abundance of exceptional directorial debuts from new filmmakers who cinephiles are expecting to help shape this new decade in cinema. One of the most promising and prolific filmmakers to emerge on the scene is Alex Garland. Cinephiles were first introduced to Garland in 2015, with his directorial debut Ex Machina, a fascinating exploration of the rise of artificial intelligence and the frightening lengths the human race will go to maintain their power and control. The film struck a chord with audiences and put A24 on the map as a brand and independent cinema in general. His follow-up, Annihilation, saw the now established director working with a significantly larger budget. That film presented its big ideas in a much less palatable fashion, resulting in the film bombing at the box office and receiving a more mixed reception. Following its release, the film has attained a passionate cult following and fans have been patiently awaiting his follow-up ever since.

Men is Garland’s third feature length film which sees him back with A24 and working with a scaled back budget. The film stars Jessie Buckley as Harper, a woman who decides to leave the city in the aftermath of a traumatic event before moving alone to the rural English countryside in hopes of healing her internal wounds. However, she soon starts to feel extreme discomfort when a mysterious figure follows her out of the woods and begins to stalk her.

Upon glancing at the film’s title, one will most likely infer the ideas that Men is exploring. The film is essentially an examination of the physical and emotional abuse that men place women under in toxic relationships, and the emotional scars that trauma can leave, all through the lens of modern horror. Garland is far from the first filmmaker to tackle these through horror, especially in the age of #metoo, but the film takes an unexpected approach. Unlike his prior films, which both combined abstract ideas with a tight narrative and multi-layered characters, this film is far more avant-garde. It is less focused on telling Harper’s story, and more interested in delving into her psyche by combining surrealist aesthetic and body horror elements to visualize her inner demons and nightmares.

While Garland’s approach in covering these important themes is definitely bold, it does not quite paint an effective portrait of the trauma that victims of toxic relationships endure. Men starts out interesting, by taking its time to build an uneasy atmosphere and examines the different kinds of uncomfortable interactions Harper has with the male residents of the town. Garland’s decision to have all of the residents portrayed by Rory Kinear was a great one, signifying that despite the varying degrees of offenses, all of the male characters are in some way violating Harper and contributing to her trauma. Unfortunately, the climax that the film patiently builds up to is an absolute mess.

The film is so focused on making audiences squirm, that it forgets to treat this sensitive subject matter with any depth or delicacy, seemingly preferring to indulge in excess. The imagery on display is extremely disturbing and horrific, and will certainly satisfy body horror fans, but is not nearly as intelligent as what the first two acts promised. It’s also on-the-nose with its messaging, despite presenting it in an abstract fashion. It’s obvious what Garland is trying to say but he would have been better served with a more nuanced approach.

While the film is very flawed, Buckley delivers another performance for the ages, showcasing a wide range of emotions and perfectly capturing the feeling of trying to overcome trauma. Meanwhile, Kinnear also delivers an intriguing set of performances, portraying each character differently, but maintaining the same level of eeriness.

In the end, Men is a mixed bag. Despite having some interesting ideas and containing one of the best performances of the year so far, it is both excessive and lacking in subtlety, without contributing anything profound to the subjects it is tackling.

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Tristan French