Alex Garland Calls ‘Men’ A More “Aggressive” Film, That’s Also A “Ghost Story” Horror

Alex Garland is behind some fantastic and acclaimed genre projects such as “Ex Machina,” his tech-thriller FX series “DEVS,” and the recent project “Men” starring Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear. He originally made the jump from author to screenwriter and then made another pivot to directing but doesn’t see himself as a director and might not be doing it for much longer.

two weeks after he was forced to step away from his duties beginning May 2.“I’m such a positive person, I tested positive AGAIN,” he tweeted Tuesday. “I am feeling fine — the great John @mulaney & Andy Samberg @thelonelyisland have graciously agreed to host @JimmyKimmelLive for me tomorrow.”The show host appeared virtually at the 2022 network upfronts, where he made fun of everyone from Netflix (“It feels really good to see them stoop to selling advertisements.”) to Disney (“It’s our 100th anniversary, and we are gonna celebrate that milestone like only Disney can: By milking the living sh— out of it!”). Kimmel announced May 2 that comic Mike Birbiglia would take over hosting after his first positive COVID test this month.

Somewhere in the southwest of England is a sprawling stone estate nestled along hedge-lined lanes that you can rent, complete with wood fireplaces, low oak beams, an apple tree in the yard and a room for a baby grand piano. But the listing on Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com might not mention one small complication: It comes with a naked dude in the yard.This is where Alex Garland’s sophisticated horror film “Men” is set. All the action takes place in and around this estate, a countryside both sublimely beautiful and yet also grimy and filthy.

It wasn’t Jessie Buckley’s audition but an observation she made that got her the leading role in “ Men.”When speaking to filmmaker Alex Garland about his heady idea to grapple with masculinity and its foundational myths and virulent cycles within a folk horror construct, Buckley caught him off guard: She started talking about the metallic taste of blood and how the character might feel about it. It was strange and unusual and perfect, he thought.“It was quite an abstract way of thinking.

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye “Ye” West‘s son, Psalm, is officially done with the terrible twos! The youngest of Kim and Kanye’s kids turned three on Monday, and received some adorable messages from his mom and other members of his famous family.

Never Let Me Go, the Kazuo Ishiguro novel that was adapted as a film starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, is being adapted as a TV series.

Selome Hailu FX is developing a series based on “Never Let Me Go,” the 2010 Searchlight Pictures film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name, Variety has learned. Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich, who run DNA Films & TV in the U.K.

out there.Whatever’s happening in the movie’s opening fragments of unnerving imagery — sparks hitting a waterfront apartment’s railing, an eerie orange glow, the nosebleed on a terrified-looking Harper (Buckley) — we know it’s why our protagonist is next seen driving her Ford Fiesta to the English countryside as singer-songwriter Leslie Duncan’s plaintive classic “Love Song” accompanies the rolling, tranquil scenery. Arriving at her cozy, stately vacation-rental manor tucked inside a hedged boundary, Harper plucks an apple from the tree out front and bites.

The trailer for “Men” is simple; a little too simple. Like scores of horror characters before her, we see that Jessie Buckley has relocated to the countryside in order to get away from the horrors of her real life.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticSPOILER ALERT: The following review contains spoilers.In “Ex Machina” director Alex Garland’s latest, “Men,” the leaves are so green, the tone is so ominous, and the men are so … Rory Kinnear-y that audiences are all but guaranteed to leave this folk-horror bizart-house offering feeling disturbed, even if no two viewers can agree on what bothered them about it. There’s that shocker of an ending, of course, but we’ll postpone discussion of that till the penultimate paragraph of this review, so as not to spoil the fun — even if, by the time you see it, “Men” is already likely to be defined by its over-the-top finale.Kinnear, who comes across as a chummy enough fellow — albeit one who might chase you into a back alley and murder you if given the chance — impressively embodies eight different characters: basically, all the men, plus one particularly creepy boy, in a rural English village.

Men 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. 

Sasha Urban editorMovie icon Julia Roberts has been named the Godmother of the Trophée Chopard 2022 at Cannes Film Festival.As Godmother, Roberts will present the award to both a male and female young actor on the rise. She follows Godmother Jessica Chastain, who presented the award to Jessie Buckley and Kingsley Ben-Adir at Cannes Film Festival 2021.Zhang Ziyi, Charlize Theron, Robert De Niro, Cate Blanchett, Elton John, Julianne Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Helen Mirren are among previous presenters.

Men has been praised as his boldest experiment yet by critics.A press screening of the folk horror took place ahead of its premiere at Cannes Film Festival later this month, with first reactions praising the director of Annihilation, Ex Machina and sci-fi series Devs for keeping things surreal.Men follows young widow Harper (Jessie Buckley) who has rented a holiday home in the English countryside as she grieves the death of her husband (Paapa Essiedu). As shown in the trailer, she also appears to be seeing Rory Kinnear as various different residents in the village.Early reactions have described the film as a blend of Hereditary and Get Out, which is “intense, opaque, challenging and visceral as hell”.You can check out more reactions below.I saw Alex Garland's new movie MEN. It's his most stripped-down and primal film yet.

Jessie Buckley is kicking off the promo tour for her upcoming A24 movie Men!

Writer/director Alex Garland has been one of the more unique voices in the world of genre entertainment with an excellent track record including things like “28 Days Later,” “Sunshine,” “Never Let Me Go,” “Dredd,” “Ex Machina,” “Annihilation,” and the tech-thriller FX series “DEVS.” He’s back with his new film “Men” that will be out next month, and while he continues to be a bit evasive about details of the film, he’s certainly leaving enough crumbs to get us excited.