Hot on the heels of her recent Oscar nomination for her role in Netflix’s The Lost Daughter, Jessie Buckley is back on the big screen – in an entirely more eerie role.

Men is the upcoming horror film that sees director Alex Garland (most notably known for Ex Machina) return to the silver screen. The English writer and filmmaker is no stranger to the thriller genre and it seems as though he’s taking ‘dark and twisted’ to a whole new level with Men.

With Buckley leading the cast, the A24 film follows her character, Harper, as she takes some time for herself in the picturesque English countryside. She’s recovering from a personal tragedy – the contents of which we’ll have to wait for upon watching the film – but she retreats to nature in hopes of finding a place to truly heal. 

But, as the synopsis states, “someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her.

“What begins as simmering dread becomes a fully-formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears in Garland’s feverish, shape-shifting new horror film.”

Buckley already wowed us with her performance as young Leda in The Lost Daughter – a standout role which has seen her bag the Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

The 32-year-old Irish actor is clearly not fearful of gritty, nuanced roles as her new role as Harper seems to be just that.  

Joining her in Men will also be Rory Kinnear (No Time to Die, Ridley Road) and Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You).

If the trailer is anything to go by, you definitely don’t want to watch this upcoming film by yourself or in the corner of a dark room.

In the newly released first-look at the film, we see Buckley amble through an evergreen forest – what’s the worst that could happen, we think.

But if our ardent re-watches of The Girl On The Train have taught us anything, it’s to never trust an ominous-looking tunnel because there’s always trouble lurking close by.

And that’s indeed true when Buckley walks out into the garden to find a mysterious man there – or is he just a vision? 

The trailer itself is enough to give us nightmares. As Buckley drives up to a stately manor home for a getaway break after a traumatic event, she is bowled over by how nice everything around her is. 

Her trek takes her into the expansive garden where she plucks an apple from a tree – a forgotten action that is later mentioned by the landlord (Kinnear) as “forbidden fruit”. It’s a joke, he laughs, but the eerie feeling that something isn’t quite right remains.

As the trailer progresses, we realise that every man Buckley comes into contact with – the priest, the barman, the school child – is actually Kinnear. Is she hallucinating? Is he following her? Whatever the mysterious presence is, we need to know. We’ll be watching on the edge of our seats to figure out who is haunting her .

Watch the trailer for yourself here: 

And it already seems like the internet is awash with praise (and intrigue) for the new film. One Twitter user said: “All we want is more of Jessie Buckley” while many others are confirming that Alex Garland and Buckley are a match made in cinematic heaven.

Men will be coming to UK and Irish cinemas on 1 June 2022.

Image: Getty