'Men' Review: Alex Garland's Visceral Folk Horror Flick on Masculinity is Sadly Surface Leveled
R: Disturbing and violent content, graphic nudity, grisly images, and language
Runtime: 1 Hr and 40 Minutes
Production Companies: DNA Films, A24
Distributor: A24
Director: Alex Garland
Writer: Alex Garland
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu, Gayle Rankin
Release Date: May 20, 2022
In Theaters Only
In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper (Jessie Buckley) retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to have found a place to heal. But someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her. What begins as simmering dread becomes a fully-formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears.
Out of the many modern storytellers within the science fiction genre, Alex Garland has been a prolific voice of sorts, dropping nothing but bangers since 28 Days Later. After works like Ex Machina, Annihilation, Dredd 3D, and his miniseries Devs, it’s about time he took off that “sci-fi horror” hat and went headfirst into just horror. Specifically, folk horror that’s still as cerebral as his other works, which perfectly describes his new A24 flick Men.
Given that this is his return to “no sci-fi, just horror” vibes, Alex Garland exhibits that he has not missed a single step in terms of direction. His style in his recent outputs, most notably Annihilation, is heavily carried over into Men. From the use of natural lighting in his exteriors to toying around with color in several interior scenes to exude a specific mood, Garland occupies familiar territory by giving you a heightened sense of discomfort. He has a knack for making his leads experience hell in the grassiest of terrains, especially when they’re isolated from the rest of society. The main course of horror here is claustrophobia, which can occur just about anywhere.
While he hasn’t necessarily thrown his hat into the ring with the likes of Eggers and Aster, Garland delivers the trademarked “A24 elevated horror” for Men and hits all the checkboxes you’d expect it to:
Exuding an unnerving atmosphere in tone rather than visuals
Sequences of artsy violence
Emphasis on disturbing visceral imagery rather than your regulated jump scares
A slow-burn pace that eases you into the batshit crazy unknown in its climax
Allegories of whatever theme the filmmaker wanted to express (in this case, gender dynamics)
As a filmmaker, Garland knows how to strike a visceral fear into you. The film is transparent with its metaphorical exploration of the negative actions of the titular gender. Like Garland himself said in the Q&A that followed the press screening I attended, he tried making it as straightforward as he could, unlike his previous works. Whether that’s a good or bad thing for the viewer, without its compelling humanistic lead Harper (Jessie Buckley), the allegory of the heinousness of “man” would hold as much weight as tapioca pudding.
Garland borrows Annihilation’s skeleton, where the narrative is a character-driven tale that explores the trauma of a woman amid the horror that surrounds her, and Harper is written as a person. As she goes on holiday to process her grief, you see her trying to have a good time in isolation and do her damnedest to move forward through the trauma she faced with her ex-husband, which is presented as snapshots integrated throughout the film. The more you see them falling out of their relationship, the more you feel sorry for Harper. At times, the most terrifying aspect of the film was the authentic portrayal of the arguments they shared. As much as she wants to spend some quality time alone, she’s surrounded by the shapeshifting Rory Kinnear, and all versions of him come with a distinct personality.
Ever since I saw her one-woman show in Wild Rose, and when she pulled out a guitar after the SXSW premiere screening in 2019, Jessie Buckley has been one of the best fresh faces in cinema. It’s no surprise that she’s kick-ass in Men. She put everything into this role. From the exhaustion and distress Harper felt with her husband to the natural reactions to the bizarre occurrences surrounding her, Buckley leaves no stone unturned. This is a role that has her going full scream queen and she makes it look effortless. There comes a point where she’s simply done with the bullshit and I was fearing for Rory Kinnear due to how confidently the tables turn.
If Jessie Buckley is the main course, Rory Kinnear is both the appetizer and dessert, for he is delightfully entertaining and intimidating as the many men he portrays. Each of Kinnear’s faces relates to the negative traits that men have. Though they are frustratingly in-your-face about it, he truly brings life to them in a deranged, upbeat manner. Part of the entertainment value is the element of surprise as to what new face Kinnear wears throughout Harper’s descent into madness. His eccentric or straight-up misogynistic behavior mixed with her natural reactions make for some good humor.
Surprisingly, Men isn’t just all slow-burn and dread, for it includes a refreshing sense of humor to add personality and it doesn’t disrupt the tone. If anything, it enhances the entertainment value. Once one of Rory Kinnear’s many faces appears in the form of Geoffrey, the host of the house Harper rents, his cartoonish British demeanor garners some genuine laughs. It reaches a Jordan Peele level of humor that ranges from being naturally to nervously funny and it’s often intentional. Because of how well-written Harper is, most of her reactions relate to whatever the audience is saying at that very moment. There’s a moment where I uttered, “What the fuck?” under my breath at the same time she did.
As aforementioned, Garland said he wanted the movie to be as surface-level as possible. Well… he did what he set out to do and I can’t fault him for it. The directness of the metaphor of man has little to no flavor. Given that the film has a sense of humor, I thought the traits that came with each Kinnear character was going to be a satirical take on the traits of man but it doesn’t land much of a punch. The gaslighting, faux niceness, and sexism that Harper experiences firsthand have no subtlety and I guess that’s the point because men themselves lack nuance… but this is Alex Garland. Most of his fare is full of nuance. Garland tries to cram symbolism from English folk imagery and statues and it doesn’t correlate that well with the main plot. If anything it comes off as a farce in order for the film to feel deeper than it really is. While it does pertain to on-the-nose references of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, it happens in an underwhelmingly straightforward manner.
If it ain’t that, it’s details of portraits and art to ham in the message of the separation of gender roles. It’s like how Aronofsky combined the contemporary era with the events of the old testament in Mother. Men blends the themes of the first book of Genesis mixed with English symbolism while providing an abstract perspective that isn’t really as abstract as it thinks it is. Although it’s enticing, it’s hardly ever enthralling. The story is riddled with many plot holes and has some intolerable pacing issues towards the finale that goes from exciting to exhausting.
I think that’s my overall issue with Men. While it’s very well made and includes two outstanding performances and gorgeous sequences of horror thanks to the cinematography by Rob Hardy, it’s underwhelmingly straightforward. The on-the-nose aspect of it all left me hankering for something with more substance, especially when it’s coming from someone who has proven to make water into wine time and time again. As it stands, Garland’s Men is a weaker effort than his previous fare, but it’s still an engaging horror flick that’s as beautifully disturbing as one would expect from a good ol 'elevated horror at A24.
