By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Alex Garland
Starring: Gayle Rankin | Jessie Buckley | Paapa Essiedu | Rory Kinnear | Sarah Twomey | Zak Rothera-Oxley
Country: united_kingdom
Year: 2022
Running time: 100
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13841850/reference/
Brett satys: “With a film likely to be as divisive as MEN, it is perhaps best to keep a review as short as possible so as to not dig oneself a hole that he/she is unable to crawl out of. This latest installment from writer/director Alex Garland (EX MACHINA, ANNIHILATION) is as much a mind-bender as his previous works with a specific societal tilt to its theme(s) here, clearly noted by its title. From strictly a horror genre perspective, the film does its job marvelously. What’s difficult is to try to remove oneself from the over-arching thematic tie-ins that are running concurrently with the frightfest. Of course, one shouldn’t run from that discourse, but this is where the waters can get muddy and arguments can easily ensue. The central character played by Jessie Buckley (in another applause-worthy effort as if that’s any surprise to anyone who’s followed her career) plans a country villa getaway after a traumatic personal experience (noteworthily, with a man—big shock). During the visit, she is smothered and haunted at all angles from inexplicable phenomena that occur through no overt fault or disturbances of her own, although there are certainly on-screen hints of her possible ‘offenses’ throughout the film (emphasis on the quotation marks there). For each apparent indicator as to what might have led her to the upcoming torture, there seems to be an underlying counterpoint that complicates the discussion. Saddling the litany of psychological torments is an estate caretaker along with multiple other roles played by Rory Kinnear in what should be (but likely won’t be) frontrunner consideration for Supporting Actor awards throughout mainstream end-of-year ceremonies. Mileage will vary on people’s responses to the veiled commentaries within, but expect a taste of biblical and mythological allegory, a nibble of classism, and a huge chunk of a bite into gender theory. (Might want to bring along a change of clothes as well for some of the scares and/or body horror within.) Finally—and I can’t stress this enough—you might want to toss your college notes on anatomy and physiology into a fire before going in. 4 cats out of 5
“(from strictly a niche horror geek perspective, it hits a lot of 5-star horror likeability buttons for me though)”