Oh man. Or should I say, oh Men? This movie is at times completely baffling, and at other times just way too on-the-nose with its metaphors. Despite its many flaws, it still had me thinking about it days after I saw it, and I welcome any chance to talk with anyone about it, because it's definitely worth some discussion.
After a tragedy, Harper (Jesse Buckley, love her) decides to get away from the city with a holiday at a countryside home. There, she meets a series of men (and one boy), who are all similar in a number of ways, the biggest being they're all various forms of creepy. Some are super creepy (like, showing up in the yard naked creepy), while others are the kind of creepy that comes out in much subtler ways (like, in the condescension that sneaks into their conversations).
All of the men she meets are actually played by the same actor, Roy Kinnear, including the boy (through some CGI that maybe isn't supposed to be as creepy looking as it is?), which plays into what may be one of the film's metaphors: that ultimately, for women, all men are a potential threat, to our safety, our sanity, or just our peace of mind.
As it progresses, what writer and director Alex Garland is actually trying to say gets a little muddier, and I don't know if we are supposed to laugh at the very end, when that title card pops up, but oh man - oh men - I sure did....
I watched Men via a DVD from Netflix. I don't think it's streaming anywhere yet, but it is available to rent from most VOD platforms.
No comments:
Post a Comment