Men

Release Date: May 20
Director: Alex Garland
Starring: Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear
Mister Marquee Says: Nah
Number: 0/5
Harper (Jessie Buckley) goes to a secluded country home in the English countryside to clear her head after her husband’s death. While out in the country, she is stalled by a host of men (dun dun dun) who all resemble each other and are all played by Rory Kinnear.
Alex Garland is one of my favorite directors working today. He’s one of the most distinctive voices in modern sci fi and horror. A24 is home to most of the recent horror flicks to tickle my fancy. This seemed like a winning combination. Then again, I had similarly high hopes for Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! going in…
Like Mother!, Men is the product of a skilled filmmaker that amounts to a pile of pretentious drivel. Men is one of those movies that drowns in its own symbolism. Garland is laying the subtext on heavy, but seems to have forgotten the text itself.
Whatever message about gender, males in our society oppressing women, or whatever else Garland may have been getting at is lost in an incomprehensible mess of a movie. The first half hour or so is excellent, with dread, mounting tension, and fantasist acting from Buckley all to be undone by a senseless gross out festival of an ending.
I’m all for challenging endings and no, I’m not the kind who needs my surreal horror spelled out for me. I’m a card carrying David Lynch fanboy! It turns out a naked yellow guy blowing dandelions in slow motion for what feels like an eternity is a bridge too far for this guy.