CANNES, France — Rising star Jessie Buckley admits she is no horror film junkie, but was
happy to take on the wild, gore-splattered “Men” thanks to its provocative look
at issues around toxic masculinity.
اضافة اعلان
“Men”, which
follows Buckley’s Oscar-nominated turn in
Netflix hit “The Lost Daughter”, is
the latest from British director Alex Garland.
His back catalogue
includes inventive sci-fi dramas such as “Ex Machina”, “Annihilation” and
“Devs”, as well as writing credits on “The Beach” and “28 Days Later”.
But his new film,
which premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, may be his strangest
concoction yet.
It sees Buckley
trapped in a remote English village, trying to recover from a traumatic
relationship only to find herself under siege from several extremely creepy
guys — all played by British actor Rory Kinnear.
This was not
Buckley’s comfort zone.
“I’m very
squeamish. The last horror film I saw was ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ when I
was about 10 and that was it for me,” the 32-year-old told AFP in Cannes.
“It wasn’t so much
the film, it was the fact that it was a
Halloween party and my dad stopped the
film midway and drove us all out to the woods. We were terrified!” she said,
laughing.
Garland’s film,
however, uses horror film tropes in an innovative way to talk about emotional
manipulation, male violence and challenges to the patriarchy.
“Alex provoked some
very blunt, honest questions that we could investigate together,” Buckley said.
“He’s an
intelligent and provocative film-maker and I felt safe exploring this with
him.”
Kinnear faced a
special acting challenge, having to play a wide variety of strange characters.
But nothing could
prepare him for the final sequence which — without giving away any spoilers —
is one of the strangest and goriest conclusions ever put on screen.
“The last week of
filming was very messy,” Kinnear told AFP.
“There was lots of
squashed banana and fake blood,” added a delighted Buckley.
Garland tried to
keep the actor sweet as the demands of the scene became increasingly disgusting
with goodies, Kinnear said.
“I tried to hide my
discomfort — I didn’t want to be a moaner.”
Filming sounds
almost as memorable as the insane imagery that was produced.
“There was a lot of
being outdoors and baying at the moon. I woke up the local lifestock,” Kinnear
said.
“It’s true,” said
Buckley, jumping in. “At one point the sheep started responding. You can hear
them in the film if you listen carefully.”
Kinnear is a celebrated
theatre actor, also known for supporting roles in recent
James Bond films and
shows like “Penny Dreadful”.
Buckley is
considered one of the most exciting new talents in cinema.
Her breakout role
as a fiery, working-class single mother in 2018’s “Wild Rose” earned her a
BAFTA nomination and her Oscar-nominated role in “The Lost Daughter” means she
is now highly in demand.
She also won an
Olivier Award last month after starring in a West End revival of “Cabaret” in
London in 2021.
Her character in
“Men”, Harper, “is someone who was always going to choose life,” she said.
“Even if that meant facing the most fearful things,” she
added.
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