3 Ups & 3 Downs in Men
Alex Garland’s Men has just hit the cinemas, Men will follow a recently widowed woman Harper (Jessie Buckley) who is looking to have a getaway in a country home to refresh, only for her to find herself dealing with a string of strange events, all surrounding the local Men. In what is a strange horror that will already divide the audience, I decided to see what are the best and worst things about ‘Men’.
This list is more for fun and will contain major spoilers for the movie.
Up 1 – Jessie Buckley
Jessie Buckley plays the leading lady Harper, the Oscar nominated actor brings this character to life, with the two major sides to everything she is and has gone through. We see Harper in the abusive relationship as well as the Harper that is looking to find herself again, looking to move on with life, the Harper that isn’t going to let men walk over her anymore. Jessie makes this such a strong character, one that isn’t going to back away from troubles anymore.
Down 1 – The Trailer
Men has a trailer that does give away way too much of the movie’s biggest moments, it needs to stop, the film has enough to pull us in, without needing to rely on showing every single jump moments, creepy figure, the tunnel sequence would have been perfect for the trailer, showing the relaxing getaway, taking a disturbing turn.
Up 2 – Geoffrey
Geoffrey is the man renting the house out to Harper, he comes off friendly but social awkward in how he approaches everyday conversation, which will lead to some very funny lines in the movie. Geoffrey being like this works very well to lighten the mood of the meeting, showing us early on this is going to be an odd village, without needing to show too much off.
Down 2 – The Humour
Geoffrey might well bring some much needed humor to ‘Men’, however the movie does rely too heavily on the humour, with most of the other interactions with the male characters bringing a laugh from the cinema audience, be it the stranger in the woods, the schoolboy or the vicar, they all seem to bring humor to an insulting situation towards Harper, putting them out there as a different time of threat that what the movie is looking to offer.
Up 3 – The Tension
Men does an excellent job at raising the tension for most of the movie, be it the first walk through the woods to the tunnel, which will see Harper have a moment of enjoyment with the echoes, to the figure in the background raising up and heading towards her. The tension continues through the film, with most of the final act being edge of your seat, waiting to see where things could possibly go next. This is the strongest part of the movie.
Down 3 – The Ending
Men has an ending which will leave the audience confused, the full cinema I was attending, had plenty of people scratching their heads, including myself who wasn’t sure if it was just a metaphor, or whether there was some form of deeper meaning behind the sequence leading up to the meeting. Men does feel like it gives us an ending we would need to re-watch to completely understand, which is disappointing with the brilliantly built up parts of the movie.
