Men

Chris Sawin 5/22/2022 12:52:46 AM 8.4

People will hate _Men_ if they go into it wanting a straightforward story or a film that has one, clear cut meaning once those end credits crawl across the screen. _Men_ doesn’t offer either of those things. The film features stunning cinematography, a mesmerizing forest sequence, and a thrilling score that is as unsettling as it is operatic. Rory Kinnear is exquisitely chilling. This is the type of horror film that is purely, disgustingly, and gloriously nasty and ambiguous. _Men_ is simultaneously a film you shouldn’t think too much about and yet absolutely think about all the time once it’s over. **Full review:** https://hubpages.com/entertainment/Men-2022-Review-A-Bizarre-Graphic-and-Unforgettable-Folk-Horror-Film

griggs79 9/25/2024 11:07:16 PM 8.4

Men, directed by Alex Garland, is a haunting exploration of grief, trauma, and the sinister dynamics of gender, wrapped in an atmospheric and unsettling narrative. Rory Kinnear delivers a truly epic performance, embodying multiple characters with an eerie and disturbing versatility that is nothing short of remarkable. His ability to switch between personas, each more unsettling than the last, adds a layer of dread that permeates the entire film. Kinnear’s portrayal is both chilling and mesmerising, leaving a profound impact that elevates the film’s haunting themes and invites deep reflection. Jessie Buckley is equally superb as Harper, a woman grappling with her past while confronting an escalating series of horrors. Her performance is deeply emotional, grounding the film with a raw, visceral intensity that makes her character’s journey compelling and harrowing. Buckley’s ability to convey a wide range of emotions, from vulnerability to defiance, makes her a perfect counterpart to Kinnear’s unsettling characters. Men is the first film in a long time to move and terrify me equally. Garland masterfully balances psychological tension with moments of sheer terror, creating an unnerving experience that is as thought-provoking as it is captivating. The film’s blend of unsettling imagery, superb performances, and a deeply unsettling atmosphere make it a standout in contemporary horror, leaving a lasting impression that is difficult to shake.

CinemaSerf 6/4/2022 10:32:21 AM 8.4

"Harper" (Jessie Buckley) heads off to rural Gloucestershire in England to take a break after the apparent suicide of her husband "James" (Paapa Essiedu). On arrival at the manor house she has rented for a fortnight, she is welcomed by the typical country squire type in "Geoffrey" (Rory Kinnear). She goes for a walk, during which she notices that she is being followed - and the man following her is naked. Spooked, she returns to her home to find that this is just the start of some seriously bizarre goings on in this tiny hamlet. What flaws this all from the start for me is that we see everyone in this community - the policeman, vicar, schoolboy, pub landlord as variations of the same man - Kinnear, yet the "Harper" character does not seem to clock this; she certainly doesn't acknowledge it, and that just doesn't work for me. If I were in a village where everyone looked the same, I'd have been out of there in a shot. Anyway, she lingers on for a while as things become more perilous and she is clearly the focus of the malevolent intentions of this creature - and it all builds to quite a clever feat of special effects and not a great deal else. There is a largely undeveloped underlying plot line about her on-the-rocks marriage that may have had some bearing on the conclusion, but to be honest I was rather bored by the repetition of it all by then. The exterior photography is nice enough and Buckley is competent, but Kinnear's roles are all about the skills of the make up artists. The dialogue is nothing special leaving the score to work hard to try to create a sense of peril that, in the end, I felt was just ... lacking. It's no worse than many of the recent Blumhouse efforts, but that doesn't make it very good, either.