Over the past decade, filmmaker Alex Garland has established himself as one of the most ambitious and innovative storytellers in the world of science fiction cinema, thanks to projects such as dredAnd ex machineAnd extermination. Each film explores a different corner of the genre, allowing them all to feel uniquely persuasive in their own fields. Garland has once again tried to explore a new angle of the genre with his latest movie men, which is moving away from science fiction and more toward extreme horror, while still depriving the audience of the opportunity to define it within categorized restrictions. The horror of the home invasion and its allegorical stories of gender trauma operate independently of one another, yet the combination of these themes results in an experience that feels like two distinct and unrelated films rather than one satisfying one.
Hoping to recover from the trauma she experienced with her husband, Harper (Jesse Buckley) rents an old house in a quaint English village, where that peace has been broken by an unwelcome intruder. Despite some initial relief, this began a nightmarish spiral, bringing some of Harper’s worst fears to life.
Although the overall experience fails to provide a coherent or satisfying journey, there are plenty of them men This is successful, with his biggest hits being performances by Buckley and Rory Kinnear. Almost the entire picture rests on Buckley’s shoulders, as she delivers an accurate and grounded performance that feels tortured without making Harper seem unable to handle herself. Unlike other horror films, audiences will not question Harper’s motives or how she could have made such rash decisions, as she refuses to be reckless in any number of scenarios. Kinnear similarly offers a number of subtle shows, tasked with bringing different characters to life, all done with subtlety and subtlety, providing the slightest quirks from each other so you never venture into the world of the cartoon to make the differences easily discernible. However, Kinnear’s contributions are also what launched the film’s setbacks.
Much of the first half of the film sees Harper interacting with the Earth ranger character in Kinnear, with one exception being the supposed invader, whose identity is often withheld. As Harper explores town, she comes across a number of other male characters, all performed by Kinnear and quite similar to him. Viewers will immediately notice the resemblance, yet Harper never mentions those similarities. While we might think Harper handled a potential intruder adequately, her lack of recognition of meeting so many identical strangers immediately sparked the film’s foray into another tonal realm.
With dred, written by Garland and said to have contributed significantly as a director, we’ve got a relatively simple piece of science fiction work to do. With exterminationGarland uses metaphors to explore an alien ecosystem to reveal the damage caused by emotional trauma as well as the strength of its acceptance and evolution. men Instead, he presents two narrative concepts that explore similar narrative territory to his predecessors, yet result in a film that appears utterly divided. Garland was able to use disturbing imagery to annoy the audience with the trappings of a home invasion, both in visual and narrative presentation. We feel real fear for Harper, because we know her weakness, and the tension is cautiously increasing. Riding the efficacy of the elements of a home invasion is Garland’s use of Kinnear in multiple roles to explore a wide variety of misogynistic characters, sometimes internalized and shrewd while other times overt and obnoxious.
Of the two themes, the depiction of all the ways in which Harper is insulted, humiliated, shamed, manipulated, and embarrassed by the male characters in her life resonates the most. By having Kinnear play all of Harper’s nameless harassers, he creates a unifying experience where her face represents the ingrained patriarchy and all of its worst manifestations. Flashbacks about Harper’s history with her husband and the trauma he suffered at his hands only reinforce this message, and serve as a truly harrowing reminder of how deeply misogyny runs in countless cultures. It’s a mission impossible to watch men Nor are you reminded of or witness to an experience that resembles the unsettling encounters unfolding on screen, without Garland feeling like he’s trying to paint with broad strokes. Plus, the back half of the movie contains some of the most disturbing and bizarre body imagery set in the movie this year, including one of the most deeply disturbing injuries in a supplement ever.
The film’s biggest mistake is that switching from the horror of a home invasion to the ethereal explorations of institutionalized misogyny feels like going from one episode of an anthology TV show to the next. Both halves of the film work independently of each other, and other than the narrative introduction that speeds up the efficacy of the script, it can be argued that it could have been more effective as stand-alone stories. Of course, are they isolated stories and whether men Arbitrarily split down the middle, the home invasion vignette would end on a frustrating note and the look of emotional trauma would seem empty without witnessing Harper’s journey to get to that position. The problem instead is that the first half does not portend enough existential elements while the back half sacrifices some real-world terror in favor of these metaphorical encounters.
Even with its various shortcomings, men It still feels successful, as we hope it will ask the audience to look inward at how their grief unfolds and how they can enable or fall victim to cycles of abuse. Garland continues to establish himself as a truly unique voice in sci-fi, so even with some stumbles, his latest efforts are still thought-provoking and filled with deep horror that moves viewers more than they expected.
Rating: 3 out of 5
men Shows in theaters May 20.
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