Men
(15) 100mins
★★★☆☆
PREPARE to be bludgeoned by cinema’s most on-trend genre, “elevated horror”.
It sounds like a bloodbath in a lift, or even worse, M Night Shyamalan’s Devil — but has nothing to do with elevators.
The term is wearisome. Think “nu metal” or “New Labour”, in that it’s clearly claiming to be better than what came before.
The most obvious examples of the genre, Midsommar and Hereditary — both by writer/director Ari Aster — are brilliant.
But they were always going to be followed by many lesser imitations.
And that brings us to Men, which is by the same production company, A24, as those movies.
Directed by Alex Garland, who wrote The Beach and made the excellent Ex Machina, it begins with Jessie Buckley’s Harper suffering a domestic trauma not dissimilar to the one that befalls Florence Pugh’s character Dani at the start of Midsommar.
Like Dani, Harper escapes to the countryside in search of some relaxing idyll and instead discovers a bunch of disturbing locals.
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There is a British village with limestone walls, tight lanes and a pub that is “ten minutes walk there and 30 minutes walk back”.
She is greeted by the amusing owner of the holiday rental, a “nice but dim” type called Geoffrey.
Things start to get weird on a country walk when a naked man appears in the distance.
Even stranger, all the villagers are played by the same actor, Rory Kinnear.
To his credit, Kinnear is a delight as every single one, whether they are sinister or comical.
The humour, though, is totally out of place with the movie’s finale and poor Buckley never seems sure how serious she should be taking the bizarre plot.
What sits Men firmly in the “elevated horror” format is that there is supposed to be an allegory for something else happening in society.
Except the meaning in Men, which I won’t spoil, isn’t hidden at all.
In fact, it’s about as subtle as being smacked across the face with a shovel.
The genre is also defined by surreal, graphic and often violent scenes which Garland pushes to levels last experienced in the Jennifer Lawrence-led Mother!
That’s not to say Men is a poor movie.
It’s just that with Garland, Buckley and Kinnear involved, my hopes were high.
Those elevated expectations are now lowered for you.
Wet Sand
(15) 110mins
★★★☆☆
WRITTEN and directed by the Georgian filmmaker, Elene Naveriani, this beautifully shot and quietly contemplative study shines a light on the issue of LGBQT+ rights in her native Eastern European country, with characters and a screenplay that strike a chord.
In a tight-knit coastal community on the shores of the Black Sea, life is slow and steady, everyone knows each other’s business and share the same outlook on life – which includes extreme homophobic views.
As one resident puts it: “Here the people make the rules.”
When veteran Eliko, earmarked as strange because he is quiet and dresses distinctly, takes his own life his granddaughter Moe (Bebe Sesitashvili) arrives from the city to arrange his funeral.
With her androgynous cropped and bleached hair and hipster garb, Moe is different too, and there is immediate unease among the locals at her arrival.
Moe in turn struggles with the intolerance and discrimination ingrained in the village but manages to bond with barmaid Fleshka (Megi Kobaladze).
When it is revealed that grief stricken bar owner Amnon (Gia Agumava) was the true love of her grandfather’s life there are tragic consequences – showing how small-town prejudices can continue to prevail in death as well as life.
Bergman Island
(15) 112mins
★★☆☆☆
MIA Hansen-Love once again uses her own life as a blueprint for her latest meditation on romance in a story of discontent.
Set on Fårö island, where celebrated Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman lived and wrote many of his films, couple Tony (Tim Roth) and Chris (Vicky Krieps) arrive hoping to soak up the creative energy he left behind.
He’s a successful filmmaker working on his latest project while she’s a screenwriter having issues with her latest script that she eventually seeks his help with.
Thus begins the film- within-the-film, as Chris describes her incomplete story.
Mia Wasikowska and Anders Danielsen Lie appear as her characters Amy, who also a screenwriter, and Joseph.
They are former teen lovers, now separately spoken for and reunited as guests at a mutual friend’s nuptials on the same island.
Soon, her fictional world leaks into her own life as the dysfunctional relationship themes of her piece hit closer to home.
There are some lovely, emotive performances from Krieps and Wasikowska but the film is rather lacklustre with a final act that doesn’t seem to go anywhere narratively fulfilling.
“You look at something long enough, it becomes interesting,” Tony tells Chris. Sadly not Bergman Island.
