Following the passing of her husband, a young woman by the name of Harper (Jessie Buckley) decides to take a bit of time to herself and forks out for a plush getaway in the country. However, something is definitely a bit off about this countryside setting…
After Harper initially drops down at her holiday house, the mood is immediately lifted with Rory Kinnear’s hilarious Geoffrey, the homeowner who gives her the tour in a very Nigel Thornberry-esque manner. However, the laughs lessen after she affiliates herself with the locals – as well as having a run-in with a nude stalker – and it seems everyone in the town has the same facial features.
The brilliant thing about Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) is that his movies are quite varied in terms of subject matter and yet they all possess the ability to make you unnerved throughout. And that is precisely what Men does from the get-go. Although it never directly addresses it, you just know something is a miss and as things progress, it becomes more and more apparent.
Garland’s use of elongating an unsettling moment as opposed to cheap jump scares just makes you pleased that the latter seems to be becoming rarer and rarer in the horror genre these days. Not to mention, how using a simple echo effectively, can make the hairs on someone’s neck stand right up.
There are plenty of silent moments which just makes the setting all the more attractive to the eyes and the dialogue even stronger when used. Graphicness comes (and then some) in the final act and due to the movie’s slow pacing, it comes as quite the gratifying gory surprise.
A delightfully deranged story that feels like that of a contemporary Hammer Film production or perhaps something that would belong in Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected. An amazing performance from leading lady, Buckley, but it’s fair to say Kinnear certainly steals the show with his multiple roles, namely the comedic upper-class countryman, Geoffrey.
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