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Starring: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
A24 horror drama written and directed by Alex Garland. Men (2022) centers on a young woman, Harper (Jessie Buckley), who goes on a solo vacation in the English countryside after the death of her husband, James (Paapa Essiedu) .
Best Quotes
Geoffrey: [referring to the half eaten apple] Apple from the garden?
Harper: Yeah, it was delicious.
Geoffrey: Scrumping, eh? No, no, no, no. Mustn’t do that. Forbidden fruit.
Harper: Oh. God, sorry. I…
Geoffrey: I’m joking.
Geoffrey: Will it just be you staying, or?
Harper: Yeah, it’s just me.
Geoffrey: Where’s hubby?
Harper: Excuse me?
Geoffrey: “Mrs. Marlowe”, no?
Harper: Yeah. No. No, it isn’t. I haven’t changed it yet, the “Mrs.”, or the surname.
Geoffrey: Oh. Oh. Well done, Geoffrey.
Harper: Oh, no. Please, it’s fine.
Harper: [referring to Geoffrey] He was quite a character.
Riley: Go on.
Harper: He was a very, very, specific type. Very, very country.
Harper: [referring to Geoffrey] He asked about James actually.
Riley: What do you mean, he asked about James? How?
Harper: I booked it under Mrs. Marlowe. Just strange that I did that. Automatic, I guess.
Riley: So, what did you tell him?
Harper: I didn’t tell him anything. I implied I was divorced.
James: [flashback, to Harper] You’re not divorcing me. You’re divorcing how I’ve been for the past year.
James: [flashback, to Harper] We made promises, Harper. In a church. What promises did we make? If I can know why you married me, then I can subtract what’s different about me now.
James: I’ll kill myself.
Harper: No. You can’t say something like that. You can’t say that to me!
James: I’m saying it. I say it because you will have to live with it. On your conscience.
James: You want to divorce me more than you want to keep me alive!
Harper: Can’t you hear what you’re saying?
James: How is my life worth so little to you?
Harper: Because I have a life too! I have a f***ing life!
James: It’s not a threat. It’s a warning. It’s a fact!
Harper: No, you’re f***ing threatening me, and it’s f***ing horrible. It tears me apart! But when you threaten me into not divorcing you, that is exactly why we have to get divorced. And I am going to divorce you, okay? I am. I am.
Harper: [as she calls the police] There’s an intruder in my garden. A man. He isn’t wearing any clothes, and I think he might be stalking me.
James: [flashback] I’m scaring you?
Harper: Yeah, you are.
James: You’re scaring me. How do you not understand that? How do you make yourself into the f***ing victim? You scare me.
Police Officer Frieda: [referring to the naked man in the garden] Look, it must’ve been very frightening. I do understand. But honestly, I think he’s harmless. He didn’t resist at all. Seemed a bit confused, bit of a nut, you know.
Harper: Right, yeah.
Police Officer Frieda: He stinks to high heaven though. That man is definitely in need of a wash. I’m not looking forward to driving him to the station.
Harper: Well, I’m just glad you were nearby.
Police Officer Frieda: Me too.
Harper: [over phone] I didn’t come here to be afraid, Riley.
Riley: What are you trying to prove? This isn’t about being weak.
Harper: [referring to the naked man] Yeah, it isn’t. It was just some weirdo, okay? And the police said he wasn’t dangerous, and they’ve got him now anyway. So, end of story.
James: [flashback, after he’s hit her] I’m sorry!
Harper: No! You want to f***ing apologize? After threatening to kill yourself? Don’t bother, I don’t give a f***! It’ll make no difference, because whatever you say, whatever you do, you will never, ever see me again. Now, get the f*** out!
Samuel: [as we see he resembles Geoffrey] Want to play a game? Hide and seek? You hide. I’ll seek.
Harper: I don’t think I can.
Samuel: You can’t hide? Go on. I bet you’re good at it. And I’m good at seeking.
Samuel: Why don’t you f*** off?
Vicar: [after we see the vicar also resembles Geoffrey] You first.
Samuel: [to Harper, as he leaves] Stupid b**ch.
Vicar: I do apologize. Samuel is a deeply troubled boy.
Harper: I live in London, I’m used to kids swearing at me. Not so used to them swearing at vicars.
Vicar: I noticed you just now, in the church, sitting in the pews. And at first, I thought you were praying, but then I realized you weren’t praying. You’re tormented. I didn’t approach, but of course, I should have. So, I am now. Do you think I could help?
Harper: I don’t know if I’m tormented, exactly, but…
Vicar: But?
Harper: It feels more like…
Vicar: Haunted?
Harper: Yeah.
Harper: [after revealing James had hit her and then threw himself off the balcony] As he fell past, I was looking out. And he was looking in. And it felt like we could see each other. Well, I’m not even sure if that’s possible. Could he see me? As he fell? It happened so quickly, but I think he did. And that’s what haunts me.
Vicar: I think you need to be understood. And I do understand. I can fully imagine it must be dreadful for you. And, inevitably, you also feel an awful sense of guilt. And that haunts you too. The seared snapshot image. Why, yes, you carry it. You see it when you close your eyes. But also, you ask yourself repeatedly, “What if? If only.”
Harper: Yeah, I do. Yeah.
Vicar: [referring to James] It’s the screaming.
Harper: I think he wasn’t screaming.
Vicar: No, yours.
Vicar: [referring to James’s suicide] You must wonder why you drove him to it?
Harper: What? I didn’t drive him to it.
Vicar: Well, after he struck you, did you give him a chance to apologize?
Harper: What?
Vicar: Did you?
Harper: No.
Vicar: Men do strike women sometimes. It’s not nice, but it’s not a capital offense.
Harper: What?
Vicar: You prefer things to be comfortable or true? Might it be true that if you’d given him the chance to apologize, he’d still be alive?
Harper: F*** off.
Vicar: Aren’t these the questions you asked?
Harper: [after she finds out that the police have let the naked man go] He was stalking me.
Policeman: [we see he also resembles Geoffrey] What makes you say that?
Harper: I saw him twice.
Policeman: You saw him twice. But I don’t know if he saw you once. It’s not quite stalking, is it?
Harper: [over phone, to Riley] I went for a walk. I meet a boy in a churchyard who tells me I’m a stupid b**ch. Then I meet a vicar who tells me that I drove James to kill himself. Then I meet a policeman who tells me that they just released the naked weirdo who tried to break into the house yesterday. And I’m done. I’m done. I’m just going to get in the car, and go home.
Riley: [over phone, to Harper] That house was the one thing that you wanted for yourself. What you chose as a place to heal. And now you have to give it up because of some m**herf***ing nut!
Harper: [to the policeman that she saw in the pub, referring to her stalker] What is it? What’s happened? What are you doing here? Has he come back? Why aren’t you replying?
Harper: [the lights go on and off and the policeman disappears] What the f***?
Harper: [as another man from the pub, resembling Geoffrey, chases her] Why are you doing this?!
Harper: I have a weapon! I said I have a weapon! If you come in here, I’m going to use it!
Geoffrey: Ms. Marlowe, what on earth are you talking about?
Harper: Geoff.
Geoffrey: What the hell is going on?
Harper: Someone tried to break in.
Geoffrey: Was it that bloody man? Has he come back?
Harper: No. Don’t!
Trailer: