Men

Director: Alex Garland Alex Garland

Overview

Written and directed by science fiction filmmaker Alex Garland, the horror film follows Harper, a young woman on a solo vacation that goes beyond her worst nightmares. After her ex-husband passes away, Harper escapes to the English countryside, hoping to heal in peace. Trapped by her painful memories, she soon encounters scary visions that constantly haunt her. Starring Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, and Paapa Essiedu.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/09/2022
UPC:	0031398335382
Original Release:	2022
Source:	Lions Gate
Language:	English
Sales rank:	56,213

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jessie Buckley	Harper
Rory Kinnear	Geoffrey
Paapa Essiedu	James
Gayle Rankin	Riley
Sarah Twomey	Police Officer Frieda
Zak Rothera-Oxley	Samuel
Sonoya Mizuno	Police Operator

Technical Credits

Alex Garland

Alex Garland	Screenwriter,Director
Andrew Macdonald	Producer
Allon Reich	Producer
Kharmel Cochrane	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Alex Garland's (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) film, Men, may leave the viewer with more questions than answers, which isn't necessarily bad. It is a horror movie brave enough to take an audience on a twisted journey and send it out of the theater with an eerie "what now" feeling. As a result, moviegoers may not be satisfied but may leave intrigued enough to watch his previous films. In the film's opening moments, Harper, played by Jessie Buckley, watches her husband falling out of a window. His death propels her to escape to the quaint English countryside. When actor Rory Kinnear shows up in his first character as Geoffrey, the weird caretaker, the action begins. While Harper's husband's death haunts her, Kinnear embodies every aspect of his personality as he plays eight distinct characters set to taunt or torment her. Harper has one supporter, her sister, to whom she keeps trying to talk via glitchy horror room video chat. Unfortunately, as in almost all horror movies, their connection is predictably bad. As a result, she is left to suffer alone with all the men who terrorize her. Jessie Buckley stars as the woman in Men. Just like her performances in The Lost Daughter and I'm Thinking of Ending Things, her acting makes sense of confusing films. She is so good that she steals a movie that should belong to at least one of eight characters played by the fantastic actor Rory Kinnear. Kinnear (Penny Dreadful), who is the son of actor Roy Kinnear of Willy Wonka fame, runs the gamut of silly to truly terrifying as almost all of the men in "Men." An audience could wonder why the director didn't take the movie a step farther and have him also play Harper's husband at the beginning of the film. Kinnear slinks through the movie and is believable and sometimes grotesque as any leading man in a horror film. One must give credit for much of the film's success to cinematographer Rob Hardy, reteaming with Garland after Ex Machina. The dankness of the countryside juxtaposes glorious wide shots that lets Buckley's acting breathe. One moment she stands before a tunnel that is so beautiful viewers may forget they're watching a horror movie. The trick to great cinematography in horror is to make the audience relax and then smack them right in the face with an entirely different color pallet. Hardy does precisely that, enacting emotion with each frame. As good as the acting and the look of the film are, it will be unsatisfying for some. The ending, reminiscent of the tone of Darren Aronofsky's Mother!, is strange and relies heavily on metaphor. It is not for an audience who likes everything wrapped up tidy. There is nothing tidy about Men. However, viewing the film the night before the official opening, the theater was almost entirely full. Whether it was based on the love of Garland's work or simply what has become a controversial title, the marketing team from A24 might be the most significant success of the night.