Men Movie Review

I was enraptured with A24’s bizarre storytelling with its horror film “Men”. In it we follow Harper who has retreated alone to the countryside after a personal tragedy and instead of peace, finds she must confront her nightmares. I knew that I was going to be terrified watching this movie, but I didn’t know that Men would also teach me a valuable lesson about what it means to be a woman in today’s society.  

Men has the usual ingredients of an A24 film, stunning visuals combined with strange metaphorical messaging. What makes Men work for me was how the story takes head on concepts of toxic masculinity and misogyny, providing me with a valuable lesson to go home with. The movie gives examples such as domestic abuse and gaslighting. As a man, I thought Men did a great job in clearly demonstrating some of the hardships that women endure on a daily basis. If you’re a man watching this movie and are willing to confront your own biases, then the movie has the capability of helping us actively think more about these issues and we can take the necessary steps to correct them.

The messaging in Men was impactful thanks to the brilliant performances of its leads, Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear. Buckley had to go all the way into that dark place in her mind multiple times for this role. Harper carries all of this trauma on her shoulders and on top of that, she has to deal with the craziness of this story. Buckley does an incredible job of showing how Harper handles this situation, whether she is crying her heart out or cussing out one of the men. She makes Harper so genuine that it makes it easy for me to connect with her. Then we have Kinnear who plays ALL of the men in this village where Harper visits. I honestly forgot that Kinnear played all of these men because he does an incredible job giving each of them a distinct personality. It was incredible to see him as the “friendly” landlord in one scene, and then be the twisted vicker in the next. 

The finale of Men was definitely both the highlight and weakest aspect of the film. Men is a horror film, but up until the ending, the horror was mild for the most part. Once I got to the finale though, Men went all out with twenty minutes of nonstop chaos and as the cherry on top, added the most grotesque, A24-looking moment in the whole movie. This was everything that I wanted from all the built up tension throughout the movie, but after the finale I was left with disappointment. Men simply ends right after the finale. No triumph, no resolution, just credits. I had to watch Harper suffer most of the movie, only for her to just shrug and end the movie? 

I enjoyed most of this movie, but the lackluster ending ruined the experience. Men had the potential to be one of the great movies of 2022, but instead it will end up as just another “meh” movie.