The true terror of horror Men isn't in its story
Jessie Buckley in A24’s Men
Men, written and directed by Alex Garland, is an A24 folk horror film that sounds scarier than it is.
Harper (Jessie Buckley) ventures to the English countryside to heal following the death of her husband, James (Paapa Essiedu). In the nearby woods, she encounters someone or something that seems to be stalking her.
Coming off an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 2021 Netflix film The Lost Daughter, Jessie Buckley proves she is one to watch. The actress wears Harper’s recently widowed grief like a pair of new shoes that needs to be broken in. Eventually, mental torment manifests itself into something physical.
Rory Kinnear (Bill Tanner in the James Bond film series) plays all the men in the local village. We first meet him as the quirky and genial landlord, Geoffrey. Later, he is a vile vicar, an insolent child and an indifferent officer. At times, by no fault of his own, the comedy of this creative choice outshines the horror. So much so that you’re not sure what you’re watching or how to feel. This uncanny casting decision amplifies a particularly disturbing message – for all their differences, all men are the same.
“Want to play a game? You hide, I’ll seek”
The strength of Men is in its suspense. The simplest someone-is-watching-me moments are the most thrilling. But despite the progressive premise, Garland is rather conventional when it comes to the horror genre, utilising the age-old disrupted phone connection and the hair-prickling “what’s behind you?” tropes. The author and screenwriter, whose work includes Ex Machina and 28 Days Later, draws parallels to Jordan Peele’s Get Out. It isn’t a crime to emulate an innovator of the genre, but with Garland’s previous experience attached to such a fascinating narrative, you’d be forgiven for expecting bigger risks.
Symbolism is rife throughout Men
Men is laden with spiritual symbols. A grand apple tree in the courtyard of Cotson Manor bears “forbidden fruit” – marking Harper as Eve. References to architectural figures known as sheela na gigs and the legend of the Green Man are the backbone of Garland’s cycle-of-life narrative, which comes to a head in the third act. Mythology adds to the film’s sinister mood, but the symbolism is layered too thick during the climax, which, in a literal sense, drags. It’s obvious that Garland is trying to say something profound, but that message becomes lost in the delivery.
“You must wonder why you drove him to it”
Garland reunites with Ex Machina and Annihilation collaborators Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury to compose a haunting score that echoes longer than any disturbing image – which is saying something with the film’s bloody and revulsive body horror. Likewise, the meticulous production design comes from the experienced hand of BAFTA Award-nominee Mark Digby. His attention to detail isn’t limited to Harper’s secluded abode, with walls coated an ominous dark red. Outside the church, a tilted cross is in frame as Harper unburdens her woes to the misogynistic vicar, this being a contentious religious symbol for judgement and salvation.
Lisa Duncan’s costume design subtlety illustrates archetypes (a pink dress for a damsel in distress) and fuses character with their environment (a green coat for a venture into the woods). When Harper first arrives at the country house, her beige and maroon clothing is mirrored by Geoffrey, indicating a human commonality between them before they are stripped bare.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the main filmmaking departments (cinematography, editing and producing) are mostly dominated by men. The latter is where the absence of a female’s perspective is most obvious, and harmful, to the final product, as Men lacks the everyday nuances of female survival that makes living in a man’s world so terrifying.
The visually stunning and aurally stirring Men fails to understand and convey the depth of the female experience. All the demonstrated gaslighting, gendered presumptions and microaggressions can’t make up for the fact that Alex Garland is filmmaking through a male gaze. With its convoluted symbolism, this horror affirms one thing: in one way or another, it is all men.
