Alex Garland confronts the horrors of past, present in ‘Men’

Spoiler alert: Don’t read if you haven’t yet seen Sunday’s episode of “Fear the Walking Dead”.

Hollie RichardsonPaddy McGuinness hosts a celebrity edition of the ludicrous but fun gameshow in which contestants try to answer general knowledge questions while catching a variety of awkwardly sized balls. Tonight’s runners and riders: Remi Burgz and DJ Target take on Karen Hauer and JJ Chalmers with charity money at stake. Phil HarrisonGrowing food is this week’s focus on a show that is always a fecund source of advice.

If one actor plays multiple roles in a film, that film is usually a comedy, as the technique is often viewed as an excuse for someone to show off their “wacky” versatility. That technique, however, and the presumption of how it’s applied is radically turned on its head in writer/director Alex Garland’s new surreal and discomfiting horror film, “Men,” from A24.

William Earl The “Doctor” is still in, as Marvel’s newest film continues to lead the box office against some very proper competition.“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” added another $8.5 million to its box office total on Friday, bumping its cumulative gross up to $318 million. Meanwhile, “Downton Abbey: A New Era” is estimated to end the weekend with $18 million,“Downton Abbey: A New Era,” the second film spin-off of the beloved U.K.

Note: This interview contains minor spoilers for “Men.”Jessie Buckley didn’t come away from starring in “Men” with any answers. To her, pinning down the film’s exact meaning would be beside the point.“I don’t really have a singular meaning to it,” the Irish actor and singer admitted in a recent interview with TheWrap.

The arthouse never died.

“Men.”The filmmaker unfolds a twisted, trauma-filled narrative with Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley’s Harper at its dead center. Following the unimaginably painful death of her husband (“I May Destroy You’s” Paapa Essiedu), the young woman seeks refuge in the serene English countryside to grieve and heal.

Men (★★★☆☆) doesn’t aim for perfect clarity in its nightmarish vision of a woman alone in a country house being stalked by strangers. The movie doesn’t demand to be concisely understood or interpreted.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Men”The films of writer-director Alex Garland – including 2014’s “Ex Machina” and 2018’s “Annihilation” – are known for their sci-fi horror premises, unusual settings and, above all, mind-bending finales. His third film “Men” elevates those trademarks to a new level, especially its gory, perplexing ending. The nightmare begins when Harper (Jessie Buckley) rents a house in the English countryside, craving a respite from the city where her husband tragically died.

Wilson Chapman editorSpoiler alert: Do not read if you haven’t watched “Men,” now in theaters.In the new A24 horror film “Men,” Rory Kinnear plays the title character — or more accurately, characters. Kinnear portrays a parade of male characters that populate a secluded English village — from a mild-mannered country house owner to a rude teenage boy to a predatory vicar to “the Green Man,” a figure of pagan mythology brought to life.As Jessie Buckley’s Harper, holidaying in the country after the traumatic death of her abusive husband James (Paapa Essiedu), encounters these figures, the interactions escalate to become more and more dangerous, until she finds herself trapped in her house fighting for her life.

Jordan Moreau “Downton Abbey” ushered in its “New Era” with $1 million in previews on Thursday.This weekend, the drama will face off against A24’s cerebral horror “Men” and Marvel powerhouse “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which has dominated the box office since it launched two weeks ago.“Downton Abbey: A New Era” is the second feature film to spin off from the popular U.K. TV series, following the critically and commercially successful 2019 movie, simply titled “Downton Abbey.” The first movie opened to $31 million, beating original box office estimates, and marked the biggest launch for a Focus Features film.

Emiliano De Pablos Vértice 360, one of Spain’s top indie production-distribution companies, is expanding operations to Latin America, Italy and Portugal, as fruit of its ambitious plan to become a reference on the international film distribution scene.Part of the Squirrel Media group, the Madrid-based distributor is backing a first stage of its international expansion with the investment of more than $100 million in film content for distribution in the 35 territories where it already operates. At the current Cannes Film Market, Vértice is looking for movie deals to expand its international line up.The distributor mainly looks for blockbusters going out to independent industry and prestige projects which are liable to win international awards, but also local productions in both Spanish and English. Vértice has already established business relationships with top independent content providers such as Millennium Media, FilmNation, A24, Studiocanal and Pathé. “We have with them a title-by-title relationship, with a maximum degree of collaboration.

K.J. Yossman Paapa Essiedu has appeared in fare as varied as Michaela Coel’s critically acclaimed drama “I May Destroy You” and crime series “Gangs of London” but his latest turn, as James in Alex Garland’s latest feature “Men,” may be his most unusual role yet.

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.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: The anticipated reboot of cult classic The Crow is heading to the Cannes market with FilmNation Entertainment where it will be among the hot packages.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) and Oscar winner Riz Ahmed (The Long Goodbye) have joined Christos Nikou’s (Apples) anticipated English-language feature film debut Fingernails, we can reveal.

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.