Men (4 Stars)

Harper Marlowe lives in London with her husband. She tells him she wants a divorce, which leads to an argument. He threatens to kill himself, so she'll have to live the rest of her life with the guilt. They continue to argue, and he hits her, the first time he's ever hit her. He apologises, but she rejects his apology and throws him out of their apartment. He goes into an upstairs apartment and jumps off the balcony to his death.

Harper needs a break, so she goes on holiday in the countryside, to a fictional village called Cotson. She rents a country house, much too big for one person, but it's what she wants. The landlord is eccentric but pleasant. In fact, all the men in the village are eccentric. When she's walking in the woods, a naked man follows her back to her house. She visits the village church, seeking counselling from the vicar, but he gives her the blame for her husband's death. The village policeman seems helpful at first, but then begins to act strangely. There's a mystery taking place around her, a mystery she can't understand.

It's also difficult for the viewer to understand. Fortunately we had the chance to stand and discuss the film afterwards, and things became (partially) clearer to me.

Every man in the village is played by the same actor, Rory Kinnear. At first this seemed like a stupid gimmick, but in the end it made sense. I can't say any more about it. Spoilers!

This is a very unusual film. Some reviews have called it a feminist film, but that's not true. Not directly, anyway. The men in the film are all toxic, in one way or another. If you want to read a feminist message into it, you can, but I don't think it was the director's intention. Not that I know what his intention was. This is a film where I need to listen to the director's commentary. The film is worth buying on disc for the commentary track alone.