Men comes from filmmaker Alex Garland, who previously did Ex Machina and Annihilation. His latest isn't a total failure, but I would say it's not as good as his previous two movies, and by quite a fair margin at that.
It's another instance of "let's combine grief with horror elements," which might be a trend that's starting to wear a little thin. Men pushes the concept further and weirder to inconsistent effects. There are things about it that are sometimes disarming and tense, and then there are other scenes which feel very silly, and like the film is just straining or trying a little too hard.
I hate using that last point as a criticism, and try not to say it often, but Men does really come close to shooting its own foot off multiple times in the final act, to the point I'm surprised it never fully lost me (I came close to laughing out loud at one point, though, and I don't think the gruesome sight on screen was supposed to be funny).
The film's decently shot but not quite great. Similarly, some of the unique music works, but like the rest of the movie, sometimes it felt like it was trying too hard to be weird or creepy, and felt silly instead.
Rory Kinnear did alright in an interesting role, but the film's screenplay restricted him in some key areas. Jessie Buckley was consistently great with what the screenplay gave her though, even while that sometimes wasn't much.
The over the top stuff really hurts this film. I don't think it was trying to be camp or funny or silly, but it felt dangerously close to becoming those things unintentionally at times. In blending a drama about grief and a psychological horror film, it's the drama stuff that makes for the film's most compelling moments, and otherwise, Buckley also helps elevate the film to a reasonable extent.
I liked a little more about it than I disliked, but not by much. If there was just a bit more restraint or a more consistent tone, this could have been really good.
It's another instance of "let's combine grief with horror elements," which might be a trend that's starting to wear a little thin. Men pushes the concept further and weirder to inconsistent effects. There are things about it that are sometimes disarming and tense, and then there are other scenes which feel very silly, and like the film is just straining or trying a little too hard.
I hate using that last point as a criticism, and try not to say it often, but Men does really come close to shooting its own foot off multiple times in the final act, to the point I'm surprised it never fully lost me (I came close to laughing out loud at one point, though, and I don't think the gruesome sight on screen was supposed to be funny).
The film's decently shot but not quite great. Similarly, some of the unique music works, but like the rest of the movie, sometimes it felt like it was trying too hard to be weird or creepy, and felt silly instead.
Rory Kinnear did alright in an interesting role, but the film's screenplay restricted him in some key areas. Jessie Buckley was consistently great with what the screenplay gave her though, even while that sometimes wasn't much.
The over the top stuff really hurts this film. I don't think it was trying to be camp or funny or silly, but it felt dangerously close to becoming those things unintentionally at times. In blending a drama about grief and a psychological horror film, it's the drama stuff that makes for the film's most compelling moments, and otherwise, Buckley also helps elevate the film to a reasonable extent.
I liked a little more about it than I disliked, but not by much. If there was just a bit more restraint or a more consistent tone, this could have been really good.