Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.cbr.com
Alex Garland’s most divisive film, the controversial horror Men, is about to leave its streaming home. However, there is still time to watch.
2022’s Men is officially less than one week away from making its exit from the HBO Max streaming library on Nov. 1. This gives viewers a chance to discover the underrated, weird, and controversial film just in time for Halloween.
Why Alex Garland’s Men Is Worth Watching
Written and directed by 28 Days Later franchise writer Alex Garland, Men stars Jessie Buckley as Harper Marlowe, a woman who embarks upon a country holiday on her own in the small village of Cotson following the gruesome and tragic death of her abusive husband. After arriving in the village, Harper finds herself besieged by several seemingly identical men, all portrayed by Rory Kinnear, and all of whom have intentions ranging from the callously cruel to outright menacing.
Alongside Buckley and Kinnear, Men stars Paapa Essiedu as Harper’s late husband, James, Gayle Rankin as Harper’s friend, Riley, and Sarah Twomey as friendly local police officer, Frieda. Men also features a brief voice appearance from Sonoya Mizuno as the voice of a police phone operator.
Upon its release in 2022, Men was met with decidedly divisive responses from both critics and audiences, all while bringing in just $11.2 million at the box office. As of the time of writing, Men holds a 69% “Fresh” rating via review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, as averaged across 271 critical reviews of the film. For comparison, Men also holds a mere 40% audience-generated “Popcornmeter” score, as averaged across more than 250 user-submitted ratings.
It was, however, praised for its stellar cast and magnetic performances, even though the film’s ending turned out to be divisive.
What Comes Next for Men Writer-Director Alex Garland?
Image via FromSoftware
While writer-director Alex Garland might be done with the world of folk horror for now, that doesn’t mean dark things aren’t on their way soon from the acclaimed filmmaker. In fact, Garland is currently helming the hotly anticipated Elden Ring feature film adaptation, which is slated to arrive in theaters everywhere on March 3, 2028.
Adapted from the hit FromSoftware video game of the same name, Elden Ring will star Kit Connor and Cailee Spaeny in still undisclosed roles. Alongside Connor and Spaeny, Elden Ring‘s sprawling ensemble cast includes Ben Whishaw, Tom Burke, John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, and Peter Serafinowicz.
Fans of Garland’s work are also eagerly looking forward to the next entry in the 28 Days Later series, which will reportedly close out the trilogy that began with 28 Years Later just last year. Back in May, returning director Danny Boyle confirmed that the production team “ran out of time” to shoot the film, although there is a good chance that production will begin on the third entry in the 28 Years Later saga some time next year.
Boyle explained, “Because it’s set in an area of Britain [where] you can only film at certain times of the year. We ran out of time this year – we literally ran out of time… So it’ll be, hopefully, fingers crossed, next year. But there’s the enthusiasm there, and Alex [Garland] has done a wonderful script for it.”
Men is available for streaming on HBO Max until Nov. 1.
- Release Date
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May 20, 2022
- Runtime
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100 minutes
- Director
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Alex Garland
