 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 | 🎙️ EPISODE 496: 06.24.22 ραɾƚ σϝ ƚԋҽ ALEX GARLAND ԃιɾҽƈƚσɾ ϝσƈυʂ ~SPOILERS~ Sitting with Men for one day, I can safely say that ending the film on such a seemingly vague note was a stroke of genius by Alex Garland. She doesn't use the axe. She touches the blade, taps it with her fingernails; it's a subtle callback to the many close-ups of male fingers gently rapping inanimate objects throughout the picture. There's no final cathartic release. What we're left with is the equivalent of revenge porn edging. (Sorry.) But I don't think he's necessarily letting the "men" off the hook by not having her bludgeon the brain of the naked ghost of her dead husband who has suddenly materialized from [nope, not going to reveal that here]. I don't think he's giving them a pass, although that door has been left open a sliver, innit? No, I think he's saying that there is no easy end to these things, there's sometimes no end at all. And that's the perhaps the scariest revelation, the true horror. |
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I'd like to praise the decision — the bold as hell decision, no pun intended — to use that much-maligned font, Impact. Fucking impact font is used for the titles and all of the credits. And that is such a perfect and manly font. I loved it. It's the type of first impulse too often thrown by the wayside.
In general, Garland is a director who seems to always trust his instincts. For not ever having worked in this genre specifically (certainly elements of horror can be found in his other directorial work, especially Ex Machina), Garland is a natural at framing shots for maximum suspense. There are no real jump scares but the threat of them is constant.
The best moments are in the long, slow setup to the massive gore and body horror; it's a gorgeous looking film and extremely well paced. In those final, extremely stressful and chaotic and gross fifteen minutes or so, the recreation of her husband's specific injuries was a nice, subtle touch (although somewhat ruined when that's pointed out to the audience). But I can see how the batshit climax would rub viewers the wrong way, especially if they weren't connecting with the first two acts of the film.
I can't decide whether the mythical and religious elements clouded the story and its themes or enhanced them. Certainly the concept of men manipulating and controlling women (and pinning it on their simple need to be loved) is as old as time itself. Philosophical and metaphorical ideas, like that of the male birth, are intriguing, but to what degree they were tacked on to make this a deeper and more heady affair aren't really clear to me at this juncture; I need to sit with it for a bit longer and see it again sometime down the line.
In the end, I understand the take that this is just a collection of all the bad things (both violent and mundane) men subject upon women, which then culminates WITH THAT, before settling on a rather ambiguous note. But I really did appreciate that latter fact specifically. This wasn't just a simple setup and revenge tale and it so easily could've been. To use a sports analogy (like a goddam MAN!), it swung for the fences. Sometimes the big strikeout is just as interesting and equally as entertaining as the home run.
FOOTNOTES:
1. This friend is previously only ever seen via FaceTime so her pregnancy reveal is a surprise. The glitchy transmissions between the two are also the only real nod to technology here, which up till this point, had been Garland's bread and butter. Also, about those subliminal horror glitches? I'm not sure they served a purpose beyond, "here is another spooky supernatural element." They seemed a tad out of place in this otherwise country gothic folk vibe, etc etc. [BACK]
CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 495 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 497 ⫸
⫷ EPISODE 495 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 497 ⫸
Men is a 2022 folk horror film written and directed by Alex Garland. The film stars Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear. It was released on May 20, 2022.
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