Mental

Since we are pretty big fans of Alex Garland, we were pretty excited about his new horror film Men (2022).

It starts with Jessie Buckley witnessing the suicide of her husband (Paapa Essiedu), plummeting past her window to his death. She is now heading to an English country house for some quiet healing time alone. The owner, Rory Kinnear, seems nice enough, although he is about awkward enquiring about Buckley's marital status. She tells a friend on the phone that he's a very particular type of Southern man. Still, the place is beautiful, in a peaceful wooded setting, and she is set to enjoy it.

She walks through the woods, enjoying the natural environment, and comes on an old railway tunnel. As she harmonizes with the echoes, she sees a figure at the far end - a figure that screams and charges at her. She runs away, gets lost, and comes out by some deserted outbuildings. As she takes a cellphone photo, she notices a naked man staring at her. She rushed home.

She is telling her friend about this when we see the naked man (played by Kinnear), covered in cuts walking around the yard. When she finally notices, she calls the police. They take him away, assuring her that he's probably just a harmless homeless man. (One of the police looks a lot like the landlord - played by Kinnear). 

She stops into the church, which is decorated with the Green Man (man with leaves for a face) and Sheela na gig (a naked woman spreading her vulva with both hands). She screams out her sorrow and frustration, remembering her husband's death. Outside, she meets a creepy child in a Marilyn mask, and the priest (both looking like Kinnear). The priest counsels her, but begins to blame her for her husband's suicide. She angrily leaves and heads for the pub. She meets Kinnear (her landlord) there, as well as the policeman (Kinnear), who tells her they let the naked man go - no real charge to keep him. 

Back at the house, she calls her friend to say she's going back to London, but her friend says she'll drive down and join her. Then all hell breaks loose.

The naked man is back - he's locked out but he's grabbing through the mailslot. She stab him through the wrist, pinning him in place, but he slowly pulls his hand back, letting the knife split his hand. We note here that her husband landed with his hand impaled on a fence spike when he killed himself. Then it gets weirder.

The ending scenes are so surreal that you can't really explain them - mystic occurrence, mental breakdown, self-assertion, homicidal mania? You choose, or don't, just accept it as horror.

I guess you can take this as a warning. The first part has an almost simple combination of sorrow, guilt, and the healing beauty of nature, along with a creeping dread of, particularly, men. Then it becomes something different and more mad. Some people don't seem to like the second part. I don't see how he could have gone in any other way.