TThroughout this film, you might get grim accusations of men – the same among them all – along with the vociferous defensive hashtag #notallmen. It’s an imprecise and schematic but well-acted British horror film from the writer and director Alex Garland; It looks like a reverse engineered version of Gentlemen’s League, with concealment or refusal of the overt comedic intent. To me, the film never really touched upon the obvious dramatic implications of its staggering central egotism: the bizarre, multi-role acting of Rory Kinnear. But there’s undoubtedly something worrisome and outrageous about Kinnear’s shows, with their wigs and prosthetic teeth, like a scary movie remake of The Dick Emery Displays.
The venue is a picture-perfect Hertfordshire village with a lavishly restored Elizabeth farmhouse, which has been allowed to use Airbnb. Harper (played by trusted thumbs up Jesse Buckley) is an unhappy young woman who has navigated a tragic event in her life in the style of films from Don’t Look Now to Midsommar. Her trauma relates to her partner (Paapa Essiedu) who was restless, abusive and passive aggressive. You have now come to this place to rest and heal.
The owner is a curious fellow: Barbour’s pants-and-red kind seems to be telling Harper about eating an apple from the tree in the front garden–and then, with a salivaless smile, assures her that he’s joking. On a walk the next day, Harper sees a naked man from afar, like an Anthony Gormley statue, who follows her home and must be arrested by two police officers when she calls 999. The publican doesn’t seem particularly sympathetic when he later stops by for a drink, as well The officer who made the arrest who came to drink himself (in uniform). And when Harper visits the local church for solace, she encounters a frightening, sweet child and a tender priest who, after encouraging Harper to speak out about her hardships, implies that it’s all her fault.
All of these guys are played by Rory Kinnear, distinguished by skill and technique. But the audience has the right to ask: Why does Harper not notice or comment on the fact that they are all exactly alike? Is it because of the narcotic sadness you don’t see? Or is it some kind of dream she had, a PTSD hallucination caused by the therapy she received from her partner? Are these guys a Dasquin family Misogyny, every villager is a symptom of the same patriarchal defect that afflicts all men, including her partner? Can. The homeowner comments wistfully that at the age of seven, his father told him that he had shown the “character of a failed military man”.
I think the drama’s reality status could have been improved further at the script development stage, and there’s a bat creak of completely unintended silliness at that moment when Harper recently closed her eyes with her partner. However, the performances are very good, and there is a wonderful scene at first in which Harper experiences the echo of a strange deserted railroad tunnel by singing into it a series of musical notes, and hearing how it seems to resonate forever – a musical The theme has been masterfully re-enacted on the soundtrack , which brings the movie to its terrible end.