Men

One of the many masks of Men

If Alex Garland's Men didn't inspire any great enthusiasm from me, it did provoke some grudging admiration. An ambivalent reaction may be precisely what Mr. Garland intended. On its surface, the film can be read as a rebuke to a misogynistic patriarchy. Harper (Jessie Buckley), grieving because of the death and probable suicide of her husband, rents an old country manor for a period of rest and recuperation. Instead, an assortment of local men augment her trauma and creep her out. Since all the local men are played by Rory Kinnear, a sense of supernatural entrapment is introduced. When a naked "Green Man" starts menacing Harper, it looks like the deck of preternatural paternalism is stacked against her. However, as is necessary for a heroine in a horror movie, Harper displays pluck and a facility with sharpened implements.

I was pleased to detect another layer in Men, a substrata, below the bash the patriarchy surface overly implied by its title. As a number of commentators have pointed out, Men also pictures dueling atavistic and Pre-Christian impulses represented by the masculine (but regenerative) Green Man and the feminine (but ferocious) Sheela na gig. Both figures are carved on a font in the village church, suggesting the pagan forces that survived the onset of Christianity in Britain. If anything, Garland beats us over the head with these two symbols, but does show restraint otherwise. I was glad we did not have to see Harper conquer her demons by going into full tilt Lizzie Borden mode. Sometimes less is more.

I also think it was wise because Jessie Buckley lacks a savage, atavistic edge. She is, however, expert at portraying modern neurotic women in peril. Women whose societal masks are cracking. Masks are a recurrent motif in the film with Rory Kinnear's casting as the various men a means to underline this theme. Mr. Kinnear is expert at acting out the full panoply of the ages of man.

I've enjoyed Alex Garland's work since the publication of his novel, The Beach. Even his lesser novels, screenplays, and films have displayed his talent. Nevertheless, his films have never coalesced into fully satisfying works. Men marks a small step forward. It is his best looking and designed film. I especially appreciated the slightly dowdy costume work by Lisa Duncan. However, I found Men to be too derivative for its own good, cribbing too much from The Shining, especially. Garland does share with Kubrick a rare grasp of the uncanny. Men stands just below the best of recent prestige horror. Men is both too arty and gross for mass consumption, but it is a must see for horror aficionados.

The Green Man in Men