Rent Men (2022)

Sexist film which starts well but then begins to think it is clever when it is not - Men review by PV

This started well, though I was baffled as to why a lone woman would rent a massive mansion to stay in by herself in the countryside. What';s wrong with a holiday flat?

Anyway, it started fine, nice and creepy. But then it starts thinking it is way more clever than it is and chucks in everything it can to try and prove it.

A cross between a haunted house trope and a mystical pagan magic one. WO watch AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON or THE WICKER MAN, IN THE EARTH or maybe THE RITUAL. That pagan Green Man stuff done way better elsewhere. I think Rory Kinnear does well playing several characters but then he gets swallowed by gratuitous special effects which BORED out the last minutes of the film (NO SPOILERS).

Well-connected privileged Alex Garland wrote and directed this - always a warning sign for self-indulgence. he does scifi stuff a lot which I dislike, except his excellent though very derivative screenplay for 28 DAYS LATER filmed by Danny Boyle who also directed his novel THE BEACH.

In the end I found this film annoying and yes, sexist. Real misandry here which no doubt the writer/director thinks is cool and certainly in these metoo days will lead to easier funding. I am getting a tad tired of EVERY single film I watch having female leads, and of course male nudity but no female nudity.

I watched it last night and cannot even really remember the ending. So 2 stars.

Creepy & Interesting Pagan Horror - Men review by GI

The third film from director Alex Garland and another that is enticing, unsettling and very intriguing even though it has some frustrating aspects. This is a pagan horror story concerning issues around domestic abuse, guilt and grief. The ever reliable and fascinating Jessie Buckley plays Harper, who having pushed her abusive and controlling husband out of her life then has the trauma of his sudden death thrust upon her after he falls from their apartment building.....Accident or Suicide? To aid her recovery she rents a gorgeous country house for a couple of weeks where she can find some solitude and hopefully self acquired redemption. But she is soon surrounded by the very bizarre cast of men in the nearby village including the stereotypical Tory gent and the house' owner, a creepy vicar, a local tearaway and a strange man who wanders around naked scaring her enough to call in the police. All these characters and more are played by Rory Kinnear and whilst we the audience are clearly aware of this Harper seems oblivious. This maybe deliberate and the film never reveals if she is hallucinating or if what happens actually does. This is typical Garland magic in many ways, he leaves the conundrums to you. In this case it's a little frustrating as the unsettling events gain momentum and Harper has to deal with this frightening array of men we get some very eerie body horror thrown in for good measure. This is a film that does keep you hooked throughout and Buckley and Kinnear are superb throughout. An engrossing horror film that is a little 'out there' but has some sparks of originality even if it sorta lacks a certain ingredient!

Women! - Men review by BS

Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear somehow manage to carry a bizarre tale of madness, set in an idyllic English village. But what is it all about? What on earth possessed Alex Garland to put together this macabre and tense, yet simulatenously ridiculously pointless movie project? The plotline is wafer thin, the ending is gross and totally weird. But, somehow you feel compelled to see if there are any answers. Some excellent cinematography, but ultimately unsatisfying in the conclusion. This is not Ex Machina!