This Folk Horror Movie From The Director Of Ex Machina Is Taking Over HBO Max

Alex Garland has been wowing movie audiences since they saw "28 Days Later" in 2002. Garland penned the script for the movie, which Danny Boyle directed, and he's been involved in the franchise ever since. After the success of "28 Days Later," Garland went on to write other films like "Sunshine," "Never Let Me Go," and "Dredd."

Garland made his directorial debut with 2014's "Ex Machina," which he also wrote. That movie took a horrifying look at artificial intelligence, becoming an intense psychological thriller involving tech billionaire Nathan (Oscar Isaac), programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), and potentially sentient machine Ava (Alicia Vikander). "Ex Machina" won an Oscar for best achievement in visual effects and also earned a nomination for best original screenplay. Sci-fi fans consider it to be one of the best robot movies of all time.

The creator has stayed plenty busy since, and Garland continued exploring the potential of horror stories. 2022's "Men" was the second horror film that Garland both wrote and directed, turning to folk horror after the cosmic dread of "Annihilation." "Men" has recently climbed its way into the top 10 most streamed movies on HBO Max, and it's not hard to understand why. The movie is a disturbing and sometimes baffling examination of grief that has more in common with "Ex Machina" than you might think. It's also one of Garland's most divisive films.

At the center of "Men" is Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley), whose life is sent spinning when her husband James (Paapa Essiedu) commits suicide. In the aftermath, Harper is struggling to deal with her grief and sense of guilt surrounding James's death, so she decides to take a vacation. Harper rents a house in a quaint, rural village from a man named Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear), but what should be a peaceful time of recuperation soon turns into an onslaught of harassment, danger, and seemingly supernatural events.

"Ex Machina" took a sci-fi plot and turned it into a deep examination of flawed characters and societal gender roles. It was so successful we've named it one of the 10 best sci-fi movies of the 21st century. "Men" tries to perform a similarly deft maneuver with a paranormal plot, but it works to a somewhat lesser degree. The movie tries to be enigmatic and leaves plenty of room for interpretation in its story, and that doesn't work for everyone.

As opposed to the near universal praise for "Ex Machina," "Men" received mixed reviews and generated divisive opinions from viewers. Some people think "Men" misses the mark and is too ambiguous for its own good, but others love the movie's symbolic storytelling and breathtaking cinematography. Despite its flaws, there's a lot to like about "Men," which is why HBO Max viewers are taking advantage of the service and flocking to the movie in droves.

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