Movie Review: Men

Men is a weird and uncomfortable product. Despite it's creative and unique premise it's severely hampered by an inconsistent pacing and a use of intense imagery to no real effect. Written and directed by famed sci-fi director Alex Garland, this film stands out as a unique addition to his filmography by treading his toes into the horror genre.  It's unique premise is reinforced further by it's limited cast, which includes Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear. Kinnear who has the interesting job of playing multiple characters in this film too, which is a noted part of the films concept. 

The narrative follows Harper Marlowe, a widow who takes a retreat out to a countryside village as a means of coming to terms with the shocking suicide of her husband James. As Harper explores the village and it's surrounding forest she feels an increasing sense of fear develop as she interacts with the male members of the village community. As the immediate tension in the village's male members progresses we also see through the use of flashbacks how Harper reflects on her troubled and traumatic relationship with James which she is struggling to process in the wake of his sudden death.

I get the intention of the movie and the message it was trying to convey. It's assessing the idea of how patriarchal society and the men who form it have an uncomfortable and oppressive control on women. The idea at play is an interesting one, because each man that Harper interacts with each offer distinct negatives and motifs which reflect a very real and all too common treatment women face in our male dominated society. One thing to note is all these men that Harper comes to interact with all have the same face and this is one of the cases where the on the nose imagery ruins the subtly in my opinion. Rather than using nuances and characteristics to emphasise the similarity between all of men's negative tendencies it decides to stick Rory Kinnear in all of these roles to further reinforce all men are the same. That is a notable problem I do have with this film as it progresses, as it loses it's subtly as we reach the climax. 

The further we get into the film as well the more intense the imagery becomes. It decides to do away with the use of oppressive and gaslighting dialogue and instead goes full on board with a brutal and gruesome climax. The use of violence in the finale of the movie is done in order to further reinforce/ the themes and imagery of the story Garland is trying to outline but it all feels too jumbled and over the top to be reciprocated effectively. The film's too focused on hammering down a point with intense and lucid imagery that it loses it's subtle and creepy charm which is what I consider to be it's strongest foundation. This isn't a problem on the actors end as I think the acting in the film is frighteningly real. Jessie Buckley is all kinds of terrific as she plays a women filled with a complex flurry of emotions who is coming to terms with a lot of trauma. Rory Kinnear does a admirable job playing different men all with their own inflections and tendencies, they both carry this bizarre film for what it's worth.

What it's worth however is disappointingly little. I think the initial concept of the movie was very promising. You had a compelling premise which looked to evaluate the vice of men and their influence on women, you had two great actors capable of carrying the mature nature of the story but it loses all sense of credibility with it's over-reliance on odd and weird imagery and a pacing which falls apart the further the film goes. I'm happy to support A24 film's for their creative output but I think in this films case, it's creative process feels like more of a detriment than it does a selling point.