Men Trailer: Alex Garland Is Back With A New Nightmare

Author turned screenwriter turned master of slow-burn science-fiction horror Alex Garland is back, and boy does his highly-anticipated third feature film look like something we're going to hyper analyze and debate until our jaws and typing fingers fall off. Much like a presidency or the Olympics, we seem to get a new Garland movie every four years, starting with "Ex Machina" in 2014, "Annihilation" in 2018, and now "Men." Few directors could make me interested in a movie called "Men," but after the psychological warfare endured with his freshman and sophomore features, I'm absolutely starving for whatever Garland's got cooking next.

"Men" first dropped on our radar back in January of 2021 when A24 announced that they were producing the next film written and directed by Garland, his first feature after venturing into television with his limited series for Hulu, "Devs." Between his two features and his limited series, Garland is three for three with a streak of inspiring existential crises, so it's safe to assume that "Men" will be no different. The tagline of the film is "what haunts you will find you," which is ominous enough to haunt our every waking moments until we finally get to see the film and figure out just what is coming for us.

"Men," stars newly declared Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley as a young woman who goes on a solo vacation in the English countryside after her ex-husband passes away. Garland first cast Buckley fresh off the heels of her outstanding performance in Charlie Kaufman's existential nightmare, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things," so she'll fit right at home in Garland's universe of psychological mind f***ery. Acting opposite of Buckley is Olivier Award-winning performer, MI6 agent in the "Bond" universe, "Doctor Who" hopeful, and star of the first episode of "Black Mirror," Rory Kinnear. Joining the duo is the remarkably talented British actor Paapa Essiedu, who some may know for his Ian Charleson Award winning performances as the titular "Hamlet" and Edmund in "King Lear" at the Royal Shakespeare Company, or his Emmy-nominated performance as Kwame on "I May Destroy You." 

The film also marks the reunion of Garland with cinematographer Rob Hardy who shot both of Garland's breathtaking previous films, in addition to "Boy A," Lisa Langseth's "Euphoria," "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," and "The Invisible Woman." As with any Garland movie, we can't expect to know anything from the trailers, because his movies are the type that need to be experienced, analyzed, watched again, re-analyzed, and watched again until we can be sure we're getting the full scope of his messaging. Let the wild theorizing begin.