A day after snagging her first Oscar nomination, all of Jessie Buckley’s talents are on display in the first trailer for ‘Men,’ a horror flick from A24 and director Alex Garland (“Ex Machina,” ” Annihilation”). It will hit theaters on May 20.
The official synopsis for “Men” reads: “Following a personal tragedy, Harper (Buckley) retires alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping he has found a place to heal. But someone or something from the surrounding woods seem to be stalking her, what begins as a simmering terror becomes a fully formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears in Garland’s feverish and shifting new horror film.
In the trailer, Buckley walks through a vibrant green forest and approaches a dark and eerie tunnel, while seeing visions of a mysterious man. The horror film will also star Rory Kinnear (“No Time To Die”, “Years and Years”) and Paapa Essiedu (“I May Destroy You”).
Buckley received her first career Oscar nomination as a supporting actress in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter.” The film, an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s book of the same name, stars Olivia Colman as an academic who takes a vacation in Greece and comes to terms with her tortured relationship with motherhood. Buckley portrayed the younger version of Colman’s character, Leda, in flashbacks to critical acclaim, with Variety chief film critic Peter Debruge calling it an “inspired match” with Colman. Prior to ‘The Lost Daughter,’ Buckley also starred in a TV adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ last year, and earned positive reviews for her performances in films such as ‘Wild Rose’ and ‘I’m Thinking. of Ending Things”.
Garland’s first two films were both critical successes and highly praised for their use of science fiction stories to explore ideas about human nature. “Ex Machina”, which was also distributed by A24, was a financial success and received an Oscar nomination for original screenplay in 2014. Its 2018 follow-up “Annihilation”, starring Natalie Portman, was also well received, although it was less successful at the box office. Most recently, Garland created, wrote and directed the sci-fi thriller miniseries “Devs” for FX on Hulu.
“Men” is produced by Eli Bush, along with Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of production company DNA Films. Scott Rudin, who produced Garland’s previous two films as well as ‘Devs’, was originally set to produce the film as well, but was pulled after allegations of abusive behavior towards his staff surfaced last year.
Watch the full trailer below.
