Megan & I saw the new #A24 horror film #MEN. We were really looking forward to this one, from #AlexGarland, the director of #ExMachina & #Annihilation. And unfortunately, we can't recommend it.
It features great acting, the music is engrossing, the film is atmospheric, the locations they use are incredible, and there is one stalker-y scene in particular that is so well-done, very creepy and freaky....But overall, "Men" is very slow & weird (and I usually like slow & weird indie movies) and it doesn't really make a lot of sense. I also often like movies that don't wrap things up nicely in a perfect bow, & are left open for interpretation, but this one is a head scratcher, not in a good way. Where the movie fails is that the viewer doesn't feel compelled by what the film is trying to say. We can't fully root for our heroine to overcome her obstacles (whatever those truly are, who knows?), because it's not clear at all where the film is going or what exactly is happening.
The climax is way over the top visually with gory body horror, and I disagree with what they are trying to gross you out with (what they do almost goes against the theme of the movie). Megan felt like the film was trying to be strange just for the sake of being artsy. There are certain things set up that aren't followed through on, and there are flashes of half explanations, as well as glimpses of a really compelling story inside this movie. It never really manifests, fully, though.
The main character is Harper, expertly played by the talented #JessieBuckley, & she is haunted and grieving from the suicide of her husband, who was abusive & toxic towards her. I wish we could know more about Harper other than she's a woman dealing with trauma...She escapes to the countryside to get away, and every man there in the village is played by the amazing #RoryKinnear, who knows why, all men are the same, perhaps? There's a lot of scenarios depicting how crappy men are to women, without showing much redeeming qualities for any of the MEN in the movie, and I'm not sure women are portrayed in a way that shows them as more than victims. Harper definitely fights back, but I can't really explain to what end.