If Stephen King and Steven Spielberg had a baby, this is EXACTLY what it would look it.
So fucking painful to watch.
Almost done with it as I'm writing this, and I want to finish it, but shit, it's really hard.
And good. Very good.
I never thought they could make a 2 hour movie with Emma Stone in multiple sex scene's this bad, but they did.
sigh i miss forever :(
Justin Long using the rape dungeon as an opportunity to boost his listing square footage is the most realistic portrayal of an AirBnB host I’ve ever seen.
Like gravedigging, you have to dig deep if you want to get the payoff.
Alex Garland's film about the abuse of women succeeds thanks to its rich tapestry of jarring images. While fans of traditional horror may feel disappointed by its lack of jump scares, those who appreciate the more cerebral psychology of neo-horror (à la Hereditary) will find what they are looking for here.
The film is largely a success thanks to its strong cast and rampant symbolism, though Garland's choice to focus more on the women as victims rather than the titular men as aggressors means the movie misses its mark when it comes to demanding receipts.
My interpretation of the symbolism:
:rotating_light::construction::octagonal_sign::warning:MAJOR SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT:warning::octagonal_sign::construction::rotating_light:
The film, obviously, is on a mission to portray women (or at least one woman) as a victim to the male gender. That the director wants to paint all men with this broad stroke is evident in the choice to have the same actor (Rory Kinnear) play all of the aggressors, saying, in essence, that deep down all men are the same man: a being that's driven to hurt women.
Of course, her abusive husband, James, isn’t played by Rory Kinnear. Does this mean he’s somehow different than the other men who appear later in the film? Absolutely not, and proof of that is Jame’s injuries. After he falls / jumps from the building, we see that a gate post splits his right arm from his elbow to his hand, and that his left ankle is broken. Later on in the film, all of the men in the town who besiege Harper are shown to share these exact same injuries, illustrating that they are the same man as the abusive estranged husband.
This point is also reinforced by the presence of 'the naked man'. 'The naked man' is the personification of "The Green Man" (who is also symbolized in the stone carving on the church altar). According to Wikipedia, “The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every spring,” which indicates that, as violence breeds violence, the cycle of violent men will continue with no end in sight. This is also what’s meant by the endless cycle of men birthing men that we witness in the film’s climax.
A quick glance at the film’s characters shows us several types of abusers that exist in society.
First, her husband, who starts off emotionally abusing his wife -- “If you leave me, I’ll kill myself” -- before graduating to physical abuse.
Then there’s Geoffrey, the man who rents her the mansion. He represents the “nice guy” who imposes his generosity on women and, when he’s later rebuffed, hurls insults at the women who aren’t interested in him.
The priest represents the patriarchy of religion and the structure put in place to perpetuate male domination and abuse.
Samuel is the young man 'frat bro' who feels he’s entitled to his ‘bit of fun’ and rebukes women who dare refuse him what he considers to be his due.
The police officer represents authority because, when he arrives at Harper’s rental property the night of the home invasion, he stands in her front yard yet neither says nor does anything. He’s as useless and impotent as the police and other authorities women might turn to when they seek assistance.
All of this is not to say that Jessie doesn’t have her allies. There is her best friend Riley (Gayle Rankin) who provides moral support throughout the film, and the kind policewoman who speaks with Harper when the police initially arrest the naked man. Garland’s point here is that the best place for a woman to get the support and assistance she needs is with other women.
This concept is driven home by the second figure etched into the altar (on the opposite face of The Green Man), that of the sheela na gig. The sheela na gig is a carving of a woman with an exaggerated vulva and is used to symbolize fertility and protection against evil.
That’s a brief rundown of the symbolism in Men, and also serves to illustrate what I appreciate about the film: it’s not because it’s horror that I have to turn off my brain. [/spoiler]
Excuse me, WTF was that ?
Easily one of the most uncomfortable watches of the year. A test on your patience, empathy and digestion capabilities. Such a personal story, straddling a very red line that divides trauma and unnerving the viewer. Undecisive about whether liking it or not, but I applaud the boldness.
Poor Things is very pretty, I’ll give it that much. Colors pop, and the watercolor, blurry sky and the scaling but condensed environments of Lisbon and Alexandria both convey the miasma of Bella’s mind quite well. How the background blurs in our young memories and how we remember all the buildings and places that looked large over us but so rarely the walks to them. Those work for me. So much of the rest of the film doesn’t.
I see what it’s going for- it’s hard not to. A journey of womanhood through the conceit of a child’s brain in a woman’s body, when women are treated as children and property to begin with. But it’s so fucking weird, with that conceit, to devote so much time to sex. Sex is an important part of being human for many people, I’m not denying that. But the attention it gets here throughout compared to brief, paltry scenes of Bella reading, seeking knowledge, having an interest in medical science and surgery is disproportional. Especially when the film wants to play her coming home and following in Godwin’s footstep as a culmination of her journey when it’s a facet of the film that barely gets any play in comparison. Angelica Jade Bastien, whose Variety review you should all read, brings up how in a film ostensibly about a cis woman and her relationship with her body menstruation does not come up once. It’s so telling where the film’s true focus lies.
And yes, sex can be beautiful, and conversely so can sex scenes. But the ones here are done dispassionately yet voyueristically. There’s no interiority, no sensuality, no sense of emotion and character felt through them. Compared to films like The Handmaiden they are sterile in heart if not content. It’s a big swing to go from black and white to color, and I can see sex being the impetus for it, sure, but when it’s done like this I don’t buy it. It’s interesting to me that her first time having sex is portrayed like this, with penetration until the man comes, thrice over, and yet her first time with cunnilingus is off screen. I feel like all the sex in this film is similarly narrow and lifeless.
None of what this film is trying to say is new, but much of it is muddled. It wants to rail against the entitlement of men, how they see women as property, how they want them to be exciting and adventurous but only in service of them. And yet it gives Max no grief at all for falling in love with. A child. Literal child, this is not a metaphor, it’s a child’s brain. And marrying her but refusing to have sex with her until marriage because that would be taking advantage, as if marriage would not be taking advantage and has not been used as the ultimate control. On some level the film condemns this, but only in the opposite direction, as part of Emily leaving Max is her frustration over not having sex. It’s baffling that the film seems to take the viewpoint that we ought to let children consent to sex with adults, that it is part of their development and journey to personhood. The film is similarly forgiving to Godwin, who used a woman’s body in a way she would very likely not have consented to all while the film extols a woman’s choice and ownership of her body.
Everything the film has to say about the nature of man and people, about women’s place in society, about sex work, etc, is rote. Nothing here is new, and nothing is heightened by the core conceit. It’s so surface level. And the cast is game enough. Dafoe is Dafoe and that’s always a good time, but I wouldn’t call this one of his greatest roles. Carmichael, much as I love his standup, just is not working here. Stone and Ruffalo are acting for the back seats, and while that has its moments of charm, it’s too much for most of the runtime. And Stone is just. She’s playing into ableist stereotypes for so much of this performance. The film drops the r slur and we’re just gonna pretend that Stone isn’t doing an insulting caricature at the same time? I don’t even want to delve into all the questions raised by the mental disability angle, others could do that better than me, but it’s another level of thoughtlessness and surface level depth.
The score is similarly cloying and overbearing. It insists on a scene rather than being a part of it. It doesn’t enhance it or complement it, it beats you over the head with how the scene is meant to make you feel. I could enjoy the sound of it in isolation, but as a score it’s distracting more than anything else. It’s a bit surprising to me how much this film has been praised as outside of the production design, I don’t see it. I just don’t. For me, this is as much a misfire as Barbie, if not more. Poor things.
love,love,love better renew 4 to 5 seasons
I honestly tried to like this movie, mostly because of its great cast. But I couldn't stand their shallow motivations, egocentric attitude and silly, sentimental dialogue, that actually made me hate most of the characters (not to mention the cameos from known stars). What entirely lost me as a viewer and made me feel uncomfortable, was a rescue pilot that flees a disaster zone to fly to a far away location to rescue his daughter. I'm a medical professional and I have been a first responder in several critical situations, and I just can say that I truly hated The Rock's character so much after that stunt. After that, I couldn't enjoy the movie, despite the CGI, that I felt as outstanding. DON'T MAKE A FIRST RESPONDER THAT FAILS TO STICK TO ETHICS AND RULES YOUR MAIN CHARACTER. It's such an insult. If you disagree, I'll remind you whenever you need medical assistance and your paramedic, doctor or nurse has to leave the scene of your accident to check on her/his daughter.
It was alright, predictable and jumpscarey but didn't really have an ending. I was expecting them to do a kind of viral meta ending where she kills herself (alone) at the end, but she smiles directly into the camera, so now it's like we are the cursed. But it just ends...
Want a good review? Nope.
One of the funnier movies of the year
Pretty joyful and entertaining , mostly because of Vince Vaughn , his scenes were hilarious
A bloody good time
When did the Aussies start making great tv like this? With zombies, love triangles, murder, mystery and drama, it delivers a great story with minimal special affects. Well worth a watch.
Nudity :handshake: HBO. That scene was horrifying and unnecessary.
Not sure how I feel about it so far, maybe because it's just one episode. Interesting setting, so I’ll give it another go and see if episode 2 is better.
Good chapter in the (unfortunately) not yet written book of "Why the world needs Phoebe Waller-Bridge?"
I don't really care what anyone else says... I liked it a lot! The acting was great, and I really enjoyed the story. It giggled several times, I warmed to the two young leads right away, and I was thoroughly creeped out. Nice that the usual trope of older sister/younger brother basically hating each other wasn't there. Their relationship was very sweet and believable. So don't listen to the naysayers... Watch it, and make up your own mind.
Great movie! Didn't expect it to be so thrilling but it was. As a parent you watch this thinking 'Dear Lord this is the worst kind of nightmare!' and as the movie progresses and you get an idea of what happened it still remains as scary. You get a hunch of what is going on in this movie very early on but there is left enough room to speculate other twists. I like how they ended the movie it was the best way to end it and I'm glad it didn't play out as a 'scary hospital human organ trafficking' kind of plot but went for a psychotic break down of epic proportions.
If you expect over the top blood, bodies and other horror stuff, pass this movie. If you want to watch a psychological thriller with a dark theme, go for it!
From an atheist point of view, the creepyness level is over 9000...
(Initial, and final, Impression) For someone who "discovered" the school library in sixth grade and then read all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels they had in that same year, I was hoping for more. The writing for this series is bad. Aging up Nancy and her crew may have opened the door for the gratuitous sexual content but there was no reciprocal mature dialogue or adult social dynamics in this series. The interactions are juvenile. Just a big disappointment. Because I don't hold out hope that this series will get any better than this premiere, I'm giving it a 3 (bad) out of 10 and abandoning the series. [Mystery]
Twisty turny thriller kept me guessing. Worth a watch, but not the night before your next hospital appointment.
Hell Camp (2023) was a netflix documentary about this same issue but it only focused on 80s and tried to show abusers as good guys.
This one is really well made and shows how much victims are still suffering AND these evil people getting away with all. It was so genuine and real. I feel sorry for all the victims and once again mad at american justice system. Keep fighting!
This is surprisingly good - it does take a bit of time to follow the timeline jumps but well worth the effort.
The show, seen as a comedy, is gorgeous. If you're taking it seriously, drop it, it's not your series.
PS: Emma Roberts SLAYS the role.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Beautifully played by all and very much worth a watch. It's because of the acting and the attachment to the characters you will probably have as a result, that you might feel a sense of loss as the series draws to an end. I know I did.
Why did it have to turn supernatural...?
The Nancy Drew names bared the potential of a good detective story... Instead we got a poorly written ghost story!
I liked it. it was simple, but intense.
