Men

Critics and audiences have been divided on Men but since I am a huge fan of Alex Garland (I loved Ex Machina and Annihilation) I decided to see it last night.  I initially enjoyed this tense and atmospheric psychological thriller until it was derailed by a truly bizarre ending and a message that didn't sit well with me.  Harper (Jessie Buckley) witnesses the death of her estranged husband James (Paapa Essiedu) and is haunted by the possibility that he killed himself and that she drove him to it.  She books a two week stay at a country house in a picturesque village hoping to heal from the trauma.  However, all of the men she encounters in the village, including an insensitive estate agent, a deranged stalker, a troubled schoolboy, a judgmental priest, and a dismissive policeman (all played by Rory Kinnear), seem to want to exact revenge for James' death.  Garland always excels at creating an oppressive and claustrophobic mood (even in nature) in his movies and Men is no exception.  He uses trippy lighting, menacing sound design, and both biblical and pagan symbolism to create a sense of dread that grabs you almost immediately and doesn't let up.  Buckley does an outstanding job at portraying both grief and fear but Kinnear is absolutely brilliant because each of his characters have distinct looks and personalities but they are all recognizably him (and they are all seriously creepy, especially the priest).  I'm not sure how I feel about the gory over-the-top final confrontation between Harper and all of the men (there was much nervous laughter during these scenes in my audience) even though I understand what Garland is saying about the cycle of abuse but I certainly didn't like the message that all men are bad and that women are responsible for their bad behavior.  My take might be completely off base (it is very different from others I have seen) but I don’t think so.  Having one actor portray every male character seems to imply that all men are the same and the repeated references to original sin (Harper even takes a bite of an apple in an early scene so it couldn't be more obvious) suggest that women are to blame.  I really wanted to like this but, honestly, it made me angry.

Note:  I may or may not have uttered an expletive out loud after a conversation between Harper and James at the end of the movie.