“Men” Movie Review by Rafy Mediavilla (@Rmediavilla). #MenMovie
In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper (Jessie Buckley) retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to have found a place to heal. But someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her. What begins as simmering dread becomes a fully formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears in visionary filmmaker Alex Garland’s (Ex Machina, Annihilation) feverish, shape-shifting new horror film.
“Men” was one of those movies that I can clearly say I was hype to see. And honestly in the end it didn’t disappoint. This being said, “Men” is not for everyone, much like “Crimes of the Future” that also recently came out is a special type of horror. With “Men” director Garland dive into many styles of horror, balancing it between the psychological and body horror. And the story while incomplete or underdeveloped in places works great because of his social commentary.
Let me explain why I feel the story seems underdeveloped. Men is full of social commentary which I absolutely loved, Garland dives into the realm of both religion and Men, pun intended, having a say of what they can do with a woman’s life and body. But where this story falls apart regarding this theme is that we don’t feel that attached to the main characters situation. While I absolutely understood what he was trying to say, I really didn’t care much for her situation. Harper whole ordeal is developed enough for anyone to really care.
While Jessie Buckley did what she could with an undercooked character, Rory Kinnear was amazing at playing all sort of odd and weird characters for this story. Kinnear carries this film from start to finish. Kinnear is just scary in every way imageable. And while the underlying message is clear and loud. What Geoffrey (Kinnear) is trying to do to Harper completely overshadows everything else since people will absolutely mesmerize by his performances.
The idea behind “Men” was very well thought out, but the execution in the end lacked full development of the main character. The nightmare she was living was fully present and clear, but the social commentary got lost in a performance that just plainly took over the whole movie. “Men” is another step up for the horror genre, as much as “Get Out” did for redefining it as something more than just movies to scare people.
While “Men” may go down in history as Garland less memorable project, the social commentary is great, and Kinnear performance is reason enough to give this horror movie a watch.
