Alex Garland makes his third film here as a writer and director with this folk horror film with a clear lens for the current climate. Men is a film that that invites whether openly or not all of the criticism of simplicity and pretention that it does, if Garland did not expect his film to be seen as obvious then I doubt he would have given it such a provocative title. However for me it was this ability to wear its simple narrative on its sleeve that made Men a film that worked for me, if not overly sensationally, but worked for me all the same.

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Men is the sort of film where every criticism you have, you end up talking yourself out of, or further into. The film is a compelling and terrifying experience as we follow Jessie Buckley’s Harper as she goes to a countryside retreat in England in an attempt to come to terms with a horrific event that concluded an abusive and psychologically violent marriage with her recently deceased husband. Buckley is sublime and is more than a mere scream queen, here she imbues a role of simplicity and great trauma with a pathos and drama that makes her walking through a forest for many unbroken minutes of silence, some truly compelling footage. Not many actresses can do that for me at current, but she can. One criticism of the film could be that Buckley’s Harper is around the start of the film seemingly unaffected by many of the things that happen, but as time passes we realise that this is just her expiericne and has been for some time and so in a deeply traumatised and unfortunate way... she’s used to it. Much the same can be said for the film’s other chief element, the fact that bar Harper’s ex-husband, every male character is played by Rory Kinear, with limited superficial changes and more so performance based alterations. Does this get a reaction from Harper? No, not really. By the time it’s certain for instance, there is very little recognition. Again, a clear choice. This is the experience many traumatised individuals go through, that those who look like their abusers all suddenly have a haunting blanket quality that they all look the same. Now is this subtle? Not in the slightest. I can understand above all else if people’s biggest issue with this film is indeed it’s lack of subtlety, however having an un-subtle title for me put Garland in a position where he was wearing this bluntness on his sleeve.

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Overall Garland does direct and write here some of the great horror sequences that I have seen in some time; visceral, shocking, effecting and sickening at times even. Garland has made, if a little simple, a film that shares more in common with the great horrors than it does the lesser. Beyond Buckley and Kinnear there are of course two other supporting roles. Papa Essiedu as the abusive James is terrific and frightening in a far more realistic way of course in his few scenes, and Gayle Rankin (“Pam!” from Meyerwitz Stories, “Hey Pam!”, “Where’s Pam?”) is great as Buckley’s no bullsh*t friend. But Rory Kinnear here as everybody else, well, it’s an acting tour-de-force. The differences are subtle, nuanced and capture so many facets of the many men that come in and out of the story. With Kinnear, Garland has found the perfect vessel to tell his tale and although the tale may have underwhelmed me in elements, there are so many elements that completely blew me away. I guess in a word, I’d say the picture is ‘uneven’. Also it should have been said far earlier in this review that with the cinematography of Rob hardy, this is one of the most beautiful films of visceral horror I have maybe ever seen in my life.

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A 7/10 film that for me albeit having some of the best horror and tension sequences of the past ten years, leaves one just a little cold. The film is less a thrilling narrative and more so a series of ever-worsening interactions, by the time all is revealed, simultaneously nothing is revealed.  Buckley and Kinnear give two of the great performances of the year so far, however the film can’t help but be thwarted by a feeling that something is missing. I’m not asking for a full plot or narrative of sorts, however just some sort of ending that feels more... That’s the thing, maybe I’m a bad reviewer for not being able to vocalise it, but this is one of those films where craft, writing, direction and performance all being absolutely excellent can’t help one feel that overall the piece is a little underdone.

P.S. If the Oscars do some category fraud bullsh*t and put Rory Kinnear up for Best Supporting actor then I’ll be very angry. Wait, who am I kidding, this film isn’t gonna get nominated.

-        -  Thomas Carruthers