Men (2022)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Harper Marlowe	Jessie Buckley
Geoffrey	Rory Kinnear
James Marlowe	Paapa Essiedu	½
Riley	Gayle Rankin	-

Review

Alex Garland's latest film is a thematic and visual hotchpotch of male guilt and disgust. But before we get to that, Garland demonstrates some of the suspense-building skills from Ex Machina and his ability to make the pure and beautiful seem ominous and chaotic. Jessie Buckley stars as a young woman who decides to rent a country house in an English village after her ex-boyfriend's suicide. But instead of fresh air and relaxation, she encounters suspicion, deception and a perennial, grotesque form of lust riddled with thousands of years of religious sin and shame in a finale that looks like something shot with Peter Greenaway's camera. Garland has proven before that he has the ability to make intriguing comments on cerebral conundrums and what it means to be human. He doesn't really do that here, even if Men in many ways is an accomplished piece and may resonate with some viewers. Buckley gives a totally invested performance in the lead.