Before Civil War, Alex Garland’s Most Controversial Film Had One Actor Playing All Male Characters

Summary:

• Back in 2022, Garland’s psychological horror divided the public, with critics praising the movie’s social commentary, while other viewers disliked it.
• It focuses on a woman finding herself haunted by the mysterious inhabitants of the countryside village.
• The movie definitely stands out because of the convincing performance of the actor, who played multiple male characters there.

Released on April 12, Alex Garland ’s Civil War became A24's first film to top the box office, grossing $25.7 million with its premiere against a budget of $50 million. It’s a fair reason to recall the filmmaker’s previous collaborations with the studio, among which one movie wasn’t obviously so successful, but became a debate-provoking sensation.

The 2022 horror follows a woman in the aftermath of her abusive husband’s suicide, who decides to recover on a holiday trip to the countryside. However, there she becomes disturbed and even tormented by the strange male inhabitants of the village.

Despite failure at the box office and some claims towards the narrative approach, this Garland’s work gained mostly positive critical reviews. It is praised for exploring the themes of failed relationships, post-traumatic disorder and women’s objectification and feminism as a whole.

However, its 69% of critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes runs counter to a shameful 39% audience score. Indeed, the film was panned by the audience despite its sophisticated visual narration, unexplained plot details and quite a nasty final scene.

Nevertheless, it is obviously worth a watch due to its acting performances. While we are first introduced with Harper, the heroine of the acclaimed Jessie Buckley (Chernobyl, The Lost Daughter), the real star of the movie is, surprisingly, another actor.

As the movie progresses, it’s becoming clear that all of the male residents of the mysterious village are portrayed by the same actor, Rory Kinnear, famous for playing Bill Tanner in the James Bond franchise. Indeed, he first appears on screen as the awkward keeper of the rental house Geoffrey, and then amazes the audience with a number of other creepy antagonists of the main heroine.

According to the actor, he played “nine or ten” movie’s characters, and despite the obvious differences in both the appearance and horrifying behavior “all of them personify different aspects of the male tendency to belittle or spite or slight”.

Garland’s folk horror movie, simply titled Men, is definitely a remarkable example of a movie with one actor playing multiple roles. It stands out among other films using this technique, such as The Prestige (2006) and Cloud Atlas (2012), due to the number of the characters, played by Kinnear, and by the genre, in which this trope fits perfectly.

Check out how many males are suspiciously alike by watching this remarkable movie, as Men is available on Prime and Hulu .

Source: Empire