Men

Alex Garland es un maestro del suspenso de terror, la primera escena con el hombre desnudo detrás de la ventana es una auténtica delicia. Pero por nada del mundo no se vendería para ser encasillado en el género. Su Men es un viaje alucinógeno fascinante lleno de signos de interrogación contextuales, que emergen de una serie armoniosa de escenas inquietantes a terroríficas. Un viaje de LSD en el que la protagonista deambula atormentada por remordimientos devastadores. Sacudida por un trágico suceso, provocado por un conflicto íntimo entre un ser de Venus y un ser de Marte. La agonía mental de no poder entender algo que no se puede entender. No esperaría que justamente un hombre hiciera una difícil película psicológica al respecto, pero como amante de las pesadillas atmosféricas y cinematográficamente pulidas que no se la hacen fácil al espectador, estoy muy contento por ello. Garland es de otro planeta. (14.03.2023)

La primera mitad es una configuración brillante para una película de terror psicológica y funciona visual, musicalmente y en la construcción general de tensión. En la segunda mitad, todo se desvanece en largos monólogos, escenas metafóricas y tomas agonizantemente largas en las que uno reza lentamente para que llegue el final, sabiendo que no habrá respuestas. (30.12.2022)

Alex Garland (Ex-Machina, Annihilation) tries his hand at folk Horror under the A24 banner and it's properly controversial and only for a fringe audience, but those who like his directorial style might find it to their liking. The story focuses on Jessie Buckley who, after the death of her husband, arrives in a remote village to come up with new ideas, but the magical surroundings and a naked man stalking her from afar give her more nightmares. Garland delivers quite an original mystery oddity full of metaphors, symbols, interesting dialogue, beautiful scenery and unconventional horror. Rory Kinnear is excellent, playing all the male characters in the film and being a proper weirdo and sleazeball (I can't remember a film where one actor played 20 different roles in one film), making Garland stand out again. The first hour is a lot of slow building but once Garland switches into horror mode he conjures up some interesting stunts (the hand ripped in half by a knife is impressive!). The atmosphere is cramped and at times uncomfortable and the final body horror sequence is downright glorious, one that even Cronenberg would not be ashamed of. I immediately thought of The Fly, Alien and the famous Zygote all rolled into one. Garland built the film on the mythology surrounding the Green Man and it's quite similar to the recent Gaia from Africa. Story 4/5. Action 2/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 7/10. (28.06.2022)

I went for the horror film of the year, came away rather disappointed with a nicely made oddity. I can't come up with any meaningful or thought-provoking interpretation, and the ones I can think of feel banal. And without any supporting ideas, Men is left with a few creepy scenes and one delicious body horror sequence, though in terms of scares, however, the film is not intense enough for this alone to satisfy me. Judging by the final half hour, when the narrative, still relatively anchored in reality, falls apart, Men obviously wants to be first and foremost a parable, not narrative horror that will thrill and frighten the viewer. And, at least after the first screening, I simply can’t figure out what it wants to say (or rather, I want to believe that it wants to say more than what I actually see in it), and at the same time it didn’t engage me enough to enjoy thinking about it. Definitely the weakest Garland so far, I’m even thinking of knocking it down to two stars. (27.06.2022)

The first half had me excited as perhaps no other recent film has. The mysterious atmosphere, supported by the perfectly chosen music and the sound and image tricks completely fascinated me and I was looking forward to what Garland would surprise me with next. Unfortunately, from the scene in the church it's just a solo for the main character and one actor in wig changes, and it becomes a very weird thing that goes nowhere. It's just Harper watching various body-horror scenes, and occasionally the parson, who I think us the weakest component of the film, utters some pearl of wisdom, and you get a sense of bewilderment and would-be art that wants so much to tempt your own interpretation, but without anything to grasp on. Alex, you’ve tried to get me drunk with a bun, but I prefer a proper black Guinness. Probably the weakest of the three films Garland has directed so far. (08.10.2022)