Let’s talk about that ‘Men’ ending with the people who created it

Warning: This article contains major plot spoilers about “Men.” If you haven’t seen it yet, we suggest reading this review or this story about the making of the film, then come back. If you just finished watching Alex Garland’s new folk-horror film “Men,” you might need a little time to process it. “It’s like a kind of fairy tale.” But like Garland’s previous films, 2014’s “Ex Machina” and 2018’s “Annihilation,” “Men” has a lot on its mind: themes of misogyny and toxic masculinity, pagan symbols, literary allusions. “Seeing a body morph like that, kind of half-human and half-monster — it’s like, what the hell is going on?” Buckley says. She’s not in a state of horror, which I think is a kind of interesting thing at that point.” In the film’s final scene, we see Harper sitting alone outside the cottage the next day, as her friend Riley, who is revealed to be pregnant, arrives to make sure she is OK. Having survived the traumatic ordeal, Harper gives her friend a small, knowing smile, as if to say, “Men — what are you going to do?” “The most important things in the ending sequence, from my point of view, are not to do with what Harper is reacting to but with the way that she reacts,” Garland says.