Green Garlands and Shady Men

 I'm not generally a fan of Alex Garland's work, 'Sunshine' was pretty dull, 'Annihilation' left me for dead and '28 days later' just seemed endless. I did enjoy his interpretation of Judge Dredd, although some of the scenery and effects could have benefitted from a bigger budget. So it was with some trepidation that I approached his latest opus, the folk horror 'Men'. Had it not been badged a folk horror, I would not have bothered, as I am not a horror film fan as most modern films go way to far in terms of gore and excess.

I had recently watched the 'Green Knight' film, which was excellent and I was hoping for something in a similar vein. The trailer doesn't give much away, but does feature a green man motif, something which I have always been fascinated by from a folklore and mythological basis, so I thought 'Men' might be worth a go.

It opens quite innocuously, with a lady driving into the country, to a pleasant vocal and I
quickly realised that the actress was Jesse Buckley, a singer/actress who had been in the recent BBC drama 'Taboo' with Tom Hardy and directed by Ridley Scott, which was extremely well made.

Buckley plays a young woman who is trying to recover from the recent separation and death of her husband and who has booked herself into a large country house in the middle of nowhere, to gather her thoughts and try to come to terms with recent harrowing events. The scenery is stunning, rolling fields, deep woodland, abandoned railways and derelict buildings. The house itself is like something from a Bronte novel, rambling and secluded, but with modern touches.

Buckley is shown around the house by her landlord, played by Rory Kinnear, to a stereotypical and comedic effect - but whose bumbling country manner also manages to infer a slightly sinister aspect to his personality. After getting settled in, Buckley takes off to explore the surrounding village and woods and get 'back to nature'. Its during this sojourn that she comes across a disused railway tunnel; long and dark and dripping with soakwater. It's at this point that Buckley reminds us of her more primary skill of singing - issuing three flawless notes into the dark, to catch their echo, which she immediately counterpoints with more effortless falsetto. Unfortunately, her curious trilling invites an intruder into her peaceful reverie and a lone figure appears at the end of the tunnel.

From this point, the plot begins its inevitable convolution into the mysterious and ultimately downright weird, as Buckley meets a sucession of characters - all remarkably and very distinctly performed once more by Rory Kinnear. The film is scored by Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow, with a wonderfully eerie, soaring combination of choral and electronic ambience, which wends its way through the film and is somehow reminiscent of Nigel Kneale's 'Stone Tape' era.

Whilst it is not entirely clear how the story eventually resolves, the set pieces and visceral ending are well worth waiting for. Visually impressive and tense throughout, it is carried by the two actors alone, with extremely solid and from Kinnear's standpoint, powerful and versatile performances.

Definitely one to watch with the lights off and the sound up.