The first reactions to Men are here, and they are showering Alex Garland’s new horror film with praise. After getting his start in the early 2000s as the writer of 28 Days Later… and Sunshine, Garland is now an acclaimed auteur best known for the sci-fi films Ex Machina and Annihilation. For his third film as a director with the indie studio A24, Garland is heading in a different direction by leaning into his horror roots for a more straightforward folk thriller.
Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley leads the cast of Men as Harper Marlowe, a young widow who goes on holiday after her husband dies in an apparent suicide. James Bond alum Rory Kinnear stars as Geoffrey, the owner of the isolated home Harper rents in the English countryside, while Kinnear also portrays numerous men in the nearby village she visits, as Harper inexplicably can’t stop seeing the innkeeper’s face on every resident. Paapa Essiedu plays Harper’s late husband, while Gayle Rankin also stars in an undisclosed role.
Now that Men is being screened ahead of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, its social embargo has lifted and the first reactions are beginning to make their way online. Garland’s latest film is being called everything from “creepy, strange, and gruesome” to “complex, fascinating, and layered.” Though Men is more “stripped-down” and “straightforward” compared to the director’s past films, one viewer calls its ending “even weirder than Annihilation’s.” Read some of the reactions below:
For those familiar with Garland’s career trajectory, the first reactions to Men shouldn’t be the least bit surprising. Ex Machina and Annihilation were squarely praised by critics, with the former film netting Garland an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Since his past two films are best classified as sci-fi, Men represents a slight shift in genre for Garland, though this was never expected to result in a drop in quality for the director.
While Men appears to be a hit among the first to screen it, it remains to be seen how it will fare with general audiences following its wide release later this month. While generally lauded by critics, Garland’s films have been divisive amongst audiences for their surrealist style and ambiguous elements. Annihilation‘s ending famously left many viewers scratching their heads and feeling unsatisfied, and now Men‘s ending is reportedly even more perplexing. Only time will tell how audiences react to Men when it premieres in theaters on May 20.
Key Release Dates
Men
Release Date:2022-05-20
