Men

About this episode

The hosts discuss the film 'Men' and its exploration of trauma and male archetypes through a folk horror lens.

A country retreat should be peaceful. Unless every man you meet has the same face, the same blame, and eventually, rather more birth canal than anyone ever asked for! Alex Garland’s Men follows Harper, played by Jessie Buckley, as she retreats to a rural house after the violent death of her husband. What looks like a healing break quickly becomes an unnerving confrontation with grief, guilt and a village full of men, all played by Rory Kinnear, who seem to embody different shades of male threat, blame and entitlement. Andy, Dave and David are split on how well it works. David finds a lot to admire in the film’s attempt to explore trauma from a woman’s perspective, reading the house as Harper’s head and the male characters as psychological archetypes rather than literal villagers. Dave is intrigued but kept at arm’s length by the film’s allegorical style, feeling that the lack of reality also reduces the sense of jeopardy. Andy is the least convinced, praising the performances and visuals but finding the film heavy handed, especially once the final act starts birthing Rory Kinnears like a cursed Russian doll. On the folk horror question, the verdict is clear but nuanced. Men uses…

People in this episode

Hosts: Andrew Davidson, Dave Houghton, David Hall

Topics covered

• film review
• folk horror
• male archetypes
• grief
• guilt

Keywords

• Men
• Alex Garland
• Jessie Buckley
• Rory Kinnear
• folk horror
• grief
• male threat

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Men

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