Harper (Jessie Buckley) is a woman recovering from the shock of seeing her husband James (Paapa Essiedu) fall off the roof of their flat, maybe or maybe not on purpose. She takes a trip to a quiet English countryside only to find that her man troubles are just beginning.
It’s easy to read the film as man-hating. Literally every male Harper sees, including her husband, is trying to control her, manipulate her, hurt her, fuck her. Even the friendly Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear) trips over himself in his insistence to be her knight in shining armor, to carry her bags, pay for her drinks, save her from randos in the yard. Her only allies are her gal pal Riley (Gayle Rankin) and a sympathetic female police officer (Sarah Twomey) who shows up once, never to return.
Buuuut you can also interpret the film as misogynistic. A lot of the buildup of tension in the film is based on the concept of widdle Harper alone in the big, sprawling wilderness, being menaced by a disturbing parade of male psychopaths, including a naked guy. Imagine a horror movie with those gender roles reversed, a man being stalked by a naked woman:
Okay, not every man would react that way.
Most of the gripes about sexism come from towards the end, when Harper goes from refusing to be a victim, saying things like, “I will fucking cut you!”
to damsel in distress, lying in the road and trembling when somone she trusted turns out to be her enemy.
Honestly though, I don’t know how to parse the image system throughout that is, shall we say, distinctly feminine:
However, while I can see the movie from both perspectives, ultimately Harper’s dilemma seems very personal. She’s dealing with her particular grief and guilt, and her surroundings and interactions reflect that. There’s a dreamlike quality throughout, especially toward the climax. While I might have liked to see her turn into a stabby, badass action hero, that’s not her character arc.
The movie flitted in and out of my radar for a couple of years. I think I put it on my watchlist after seeing it was written and directed by Alex Garland, of whom I am a fan. When I told my sister Leslie I enjoyed it, she asked, “Was it scary or just weird?” I responded, “Well it’s A24 lol.” Which means that it’s a bit of both, but mostly the latter. Give it a look if you’re in the mood for something challenging but easy on the eyes.
GhoulieJoe 
This got good reviews a few years ago. Seemed like a minor hit. I’ve been meaning to check it out. Those posters are great. Us men can only dream of being stalked by a naked woman. Or man. You know what movie I really liked by A24? Something called The Lobster.
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Oh, I’m glad. I just pick up bits here and there from iMDB and google while I’m looking for images. Thank you–the pictures section of my reviews is the most fun part. I loved The Lobster! So offbeat and surprising. Did you see The Killing of a Sacred Deer? Polar opposite, but same director and also has Colin Farrell.
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No, I haven’t seen that either! My list keeps growing.
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Right?! I’m kind of at a loss for horror movies on my watchlist right now, though. Can you recommend anything? Good, bad, whatever, I trust your opinion.
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I wouldn’t! That’s too much responsibility. I’m bad at keeping up with new movies, so any I recommend would likely be older.
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Older is great! I have a decrepit old YouTube channel I haven’t posted on for four years, and all my throwback videos have like 4 times as many as newer movies.
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Cool channel! I listened to three or four of your videos yesterday on my way home from work. If you really want to know, a few favorites I always recommend are Phantasm, Happy Birthday to Me, Basket Case, Sleepaway Camp, Demons, Hellraiser, and Puppet Master, for different reasons. Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow doesn’t get talked about very much. Neither does Dust Devil. You’ve probably seen all those. A newer(ish) movie I keep coming back to is Exists (2014). It’s about a group of friends that encounters a Bigfoot at a cabin. Easily my favorite found-footage horror, by one of the guys who did Blair Witch.
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Aw thank you! Seen Phantasm, Demons, Hellraiser, Puppet Master, The Serpent and the Rainbow. I don’t think I saw Exists; I know I saw Willow Creek and Happy Camp, which are also found footage Bigfoot movies released around the same time. I’ll check out the other ones, thank you!
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