Harper (Jessie Buckley) has just had a traumatic experience. When she had just asked him for a divorce, her husband (Paapa Essiedu) committed suicide before her eyes, by jumping from a balcony. The young woman then decides to leave London to recharge her batteries for a few days in the English countryside, where she has rented a magnificent old building from the shy Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear). During a long walk in the nearby woods, she comes across a naked man (Rory Kinnear), who is watching her. He returns the next day to prowl around the house. The quiet retreat turns into a terrifying experience…
Former screenwriter of Danny Boyle – they met during the adaptation of his novel The beach in 2000 – Briton Alex Garland went on to direct in 2014 with the sci-fi thriller Ex machina, with Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vicander as a romantic robot. Despite the film’s success, it was never released in theaters in Belgium, nor was it the very original sci-fi movie Annihilation with Natalie Portman, uploaded to Netflix in 2017. Presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes 15 days ago, Men, his third feature film, is again a genre film. But this time he goes to the horror movie.
feminist thriller
As in AnnihilationGarland explores here the theme of guilt, but also the impossible mourning of a woman victim of the selfishness of her ex-husband, who, in a gesture of despair, preferred to haunt her forever, rather than agree to see her go. Men is in line with the films of the filmmaker, who uses the genre to dig deep and intimate dramas. But this time from a radically feminist perspective. What the heroine must fight is indeed the weight of the guilt imposed on women by men in a patriarchal society, as underlined in particular by the numerous biblical references summoned by Garland.
Deeply intriguing, Men plunges the viewer into a disturbing atmosphere. And this, thanks to a careful staging and an ultra-slick aesthetic, with a lot of work on the photography, but also on the soundtrack and the musical atmospheres. Combining gothic and contemporary references, daring to gore, even the grotesque in an unforgettable finale, Alex Garland reinvents English horror, following in the footsteps of a Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) in the United States, by choosing to take gender very seriously, to address very current issues, such as that of gender relations.
Brilliantly staged and visually stunning mental thriller, Men is, moreover, carried by two amazing actors: the formidable Jessie Buckley and the incredible Rory Kinnear, who endorses all the male roles.
Men / Them Horror movie Script and production Alex Garland Photography Rob Hardy Music Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow With Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu… Duration 1h40.