‘Men’ Review: Alex Garland’s Most Emotional And Abstract Work Is Also His Most Challenging To Decipher
deadline.comMen writer/director Alex Garland is fascinated with creation and rebirth. His first film Ex Machina focuses on creationism and oppression, his second film Annihilation deals with creation, recreation and the impending apocalypse, while his newest film deals with guilt, trauma and rebirth.
This is Garland’s most emotional and abstract work (yes, it’s even abstract by Alex Garland standard), and also his weakest.
Not because of the themes or any technical aspects, but because it’s a frustratingly vague piece of work. This extreme level of ambiguity weakens an otherwise haunting thriller about dealing with Post traumatic stress.
The film opens with Harper (Jessie Buckley) traveling to the English countryside in the wake of a personal tragedy involving her husband, James (Paapa Essiedu), whom she was in the process of divorcing before taking this road trip.
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