Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Marvel's Spider-Man Secret Lair promotional image

    Get a Look At the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Spider-Man Superdrop

    09/08/2025
    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions gameplay still

    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions Is All About Adventure (with Friends)

    09/08/2025
    Chord in Persona 5 The Phantom X

    Now Is The Perfect Time To Jump Back In ‘Persona 5: The Phantom X’

    09/05/2025
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘Men’ is a Visceral Experience

REVIEW: ‘Men’ is a Visceral Experience

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez05/09/20226 Mins ReadUpdated:05/23/2025
Movie still from Men (2022)
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

I went into Men (2022) without knowing anything about it. Outside the insidiously creepy poster and the one-word title, I had no idea what to expect, which is how every Alex Garland film should be entered. Unlike his past two films, Ex Machina and Annihilation, Men isn’t extremely cerebral. Still, it does use genre trappings to tell a story that expands and evolves into a weird, shocking, and unnerving take on masculinity and gendered violence.

Directed and written by Garland, Men has a small and intimate cast of Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu, and Gayle Rankin. In it, Harper (Jessie Buckley) is trying to heal from her past, more particularly her marriage, which ended traumatically.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

To do so, she’s rented out a country cottage lifted from a fairytale. In an idyllic hamlet, Harper uses her solo vacation to recenter herself and, more importantly, process her new life without her ex-husband. She is met by the quirky and slightly misogynistic landlord (Rory Kinnear). After a walk in the woods, Harper is followed back to her cottage, and life unravels quickly.

At this point, I’ll make the obligatory note for you not to read any further if you want to go into Men completely blank -and I recommend you do so if you can. Bookmark this review and come back to it. But if you’ve seen the trailer, then you know that Kinnear’s role as the landlord is only the tip of his character work in the film. In Men, Kinnear plays an entire village of men, all with their own eccentricities and misogyny, some overt and others covered under the veil of a helper.

Men (2022) is best entered unspoiled with no knowledge of its cast.

Movie still from Men (2022)

Men (2022) contains multitudes in that audience members will surely react to the film’s dialogue and tension differently. In fact, Garland packs the film with moments that will make men and women uncomfortable in different ways, especially with the film’s final act. That said, as a female critic in the audience, as a survivor of intimate violence, Garland’s choice to look at gendered violence succeeds because of how explicit his commentary is.

Kinnear plays all the men in the film, with the exception of Harper’s ex-husband (Paapa Essiedu). In doing so, I’m reminded of the times I’ve entered male spaces aware, particularly when they’re all white, and how every face becomes the same. In some situations, this is a survival technique; all men are the same in this instance and can all potentially bring me harm.

I have to be aware of my surroundings, the people, and the faces just begin to blend. While I become hyperaware of the men, I don’t distinguish them from one another (particularly in white spaces). It’s normal, making Harper’s lack of awareness of these all being the same man seem real.

There is a twist of the fantastical that imbues the story with humor until it crashes it into horror as Harper’s safety becomes more uncertain. Ultimately, Men is a film that is hard to review just out of the fear of revealing its twists and turns. However, it is a film with a clear vision of how to make you feel. For most of the film, after the first act, every scene burrowed a pit into my stomach. Nothing feels safe once you realize that every frame can have elements tucked away in the background.

Alex Garland just really wants you to be uncomfortable.

Men - But Why Tho (1)

Stressed, anxious, and extremely uncomfortable are the best ways to explain the gamut of emotions I felt over Men’s runtime. Once the film shows its teeth, it’s hard to feel lulled into thinking anything will be okay. Soon, every piece of scenery or moment of calm devolves into fear.

Alex Garland smartly uses camera angles, light, and landscape to pull the viewer in before pulling the rug from under them. Kindness morphs into gaslighting. Security lights become the perfect way to hide, and all of it makes for a visceral, uncomfortable feeling that made me shift in my seat. Men (2022) thrives on gendered violence.

That said, the subtlety with which Garland builds tension and anxiety in the film shifts when he moves to gore and explicit threat in the third act. To be honest, this is filled with elements that mark Garland’s directorial style, which is to buck expectations constantly. Men is equal parts folk and home invasion horror, and Garland understands everything about how to show the genre. However, he also introduces notes of the fantastical that bring chaos before the calm.

Alex Garland remains at his strongest when it comes to visuals.

Movie still from Men (2022)

If Men (2022) excels at anything it’s not Alex Garland‘s acknowledgement that all men pose a threat, but his attention to detail when it comes to crafting the dark whimsy that morphs into grotesque body horror. What begins as whimsical quickly becomes a frustratingly uncomfortable and you can’t look away. Visuals are Garland’s strong point, and that doesn’t change in this film.

Men (2022) is a horror movie about trauma and grief, and the specific type of abuse and manipulation enacted by men and how it becomes a larger pattern of gendered violence. It’s overt in its approach to telling this story; however, because of its visuals and its shock, the story isn’t going to be the same for everyone who watches it. For me, there is almost a nihilism that comes with the final girl’s resilience, a silent acceptance that this is how it is. This is what I have to go through. This is how I exist. And that quiet understanding of gendered trauma that makes the film work.

Sure, elements get muddled, and some parts left implicit should have been exposed, but Men (2022) is gripping, thrilling, and terrifying in a way that gets inside your skin nonetheless. Men is the most stressed I’ve been in a theater in a very long time, and it delivers in spades. If you’re looking for another Alex Garland film to unequivocally mess with you, this is it.

Men is streaming now on Video on Demand.

Men (2022)
  • 9/10
    Rating - 9/10
9/10

TL;DR

Sure, elements get muddled, and some parts left implicit should have been exposed, but Men is gripping, thrilling, and terrifying in a way that gets inside your skin nonetheless. Men is the most stressed I’ve been in a theater in a very long time, and it delivers in spades. If you’re looking for another Alex Garland film to unequivocally mess with you, this is it.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045 Sustainable War’ Offers a Concise Refresher
Next Article Hot Docs 2022: ‘Just Animals’ is an Intimate Look at the Importance & Emotion of Animal Activism
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

09/11/2025
Natasha O’Keeffe in Whitetail
6.5

TIFF 2025: ‘Whitetail’ Is An Intimate View Of A Woman Stuck In Time

09/10/2025
Love Brooklyn
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Love, Brooklyn’ Rests on Pretty

09/10/2025
Park Jeong-min in The Ugly
7.0

TIFF 2025: ‘The Ugly’ Is A Harsh Exercise In Self-Reflection

09/09/2025
No Other Choice
9.0

TIFF 2025: ‘No Other Choice’ Delivers a Bleak Vision of Capitalism

09/09/2025
Molly Lewis in Whistle
8.0

TIFF 2025: ‘Whistle’ Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

09/07/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

By Kate Sánchez09/11/2025Updated:09/11/2025

The Long Walk is a brutal watch. Equally heartfelt and heartbreaking, it’s one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work.

EA Sports FC Icons Match promotional image from Nexon News

2025 Icons Match Returns With Football Legends Bridging The Pitch And Video Games

By Kate Sánchez09/03/2025Updated:09/03/2025

NEXON has announced the return of the ‘2025 Icons Match,’ a live event that brings a full roster of legendary players to the pitch.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11
8.5
Anime

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 11 – “Hey, It’s a Kaiju”

By Allyson Johnson09/11/2025

The ragtag group faces down the mysterious kaiju in the thrilling and beautifully animated DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here