Enys Men review
The retro aesthetic of Enys Men steals the spotlight for a reason. It’s difficult to talk about anything else that’s going on. Because you don’t know what’s going on.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Enys Men
Directed by Mark Jenkin
Written by Mark Jenkin
Starring Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe, Flo Crowe and John Woodvine
Enys Men Review
It may not seem on the surface like Enys Men has much in common with lo-fi hit Skinamarink. The latter famously presents unfocused and out of frame visuals…mostly of furniture and walls. Enys Men is quite striking to look at. It’s a gorgeous film. What’s underneath the visual style of both films, however, shares a lot of DNA.
A volunteer (Mary Woodvine) charts the growth of a flower on an isolated island. Every day is the same routine. No changes recorded. Until everything changes. In ways that can’t be understood or explained.
If that seems light on plot summary…well…that’s what Enys Men is. It’s an experiment. A worthy one. An interesting one. Some moments are more effective than others. Almost none of it makes a lick of sense. It, seemingly, takes place over a short amount of time. All I have to go on for that is the records the volunteer keeps in her journal about the flower. The first several days see nothing happen. Everything that does occur (if it is occurring) appears to be over three days or so. Time isn’t presented in a way where it’s supposed to make sense. We are firmly in dream logic territory.
Skinamarink was an experiment in recreating a nightmare. It works because it leaves you with the memories of having experienced it. It’s boring as hell to watch…but it’s very effective in retrospect. Living in your mind as a nightmare that you remember every second of. Enys Men is doing something similar. It leaves you feeling like you are remembering a dream. It’s not as boring to watch as Skinamarink…but it’s also not as effective once you’ve finished watching it.
A lot more happens in Enys Men. Not that any of it makes any sense. Is this an isolated woman driven to madness? Probably. Are ghosts of the past (or future) seeping through into the present? Maybe. The dream logic of Enys Men means that there doesn’t have to be an answer. That’s a good thing because the movie isn’t going to provide you with one.
Enys Men is repetitive…but it is so on purpose. It wants to put you into the shoes of the volunteer. Isolated, bored, and uninterested. Like Skinamarink it’s a hell of a risk to push the feelings it does onto viewers. That movie cares more about what you’ll be thinking on the drive home than in the moment. This movie hopes that the repetition and mundane first act will make you invest in the random images and happenings that begin to occur. It works. Kind of.
Watching Enys Men’s dream logic is interesting…but it feels more like a relief that something, anything, is finally happening than it does an effective narrative device. It’s puzzling…that much is certain. I can’t tell you what happened in Enys Men. I can’t even tell you if anything happened in Enys Men. What I can tell you is that when I sat down to write my review of Skinamarink I couldn’t tell you what happened either. But I could tell you exactly how I felt about it. After is sank in for a few hours…I knew exactly how I felt. I still feel it. Enys Men didn’t get that reaction. I remain confused…but have no lasting feeling about it.
This is very much an eye of the beholder situation. You may watch Enys Men and fully connect to its visions of strangers on the island or light body horror elements. You may lay in bed that night uneasy with the dream that has wormed its way into your head. That’s why rating these types of movies is incredibly difficult. It’s why these types of movies are always worth experiencing for yourself. Images mean different things to different people. I can only relay what they meant, or didn’t mean, to me. I didn’t connect with Enys Men the way that I did with Skinamarink. But I wholeheartedly recommend watching it.
Scare Value
So that’s Enys Men. You’ve decided long before this summation paragraph whether it’s something that you want to experience for yourself or not. I use “experience” instead of “watch” for good reason. Like Skinamarink before it…it’s more of an experiment than a movie. Its distinct aesthetic is wonderful to look at…but you’re going to be looking at almost nothing for a long time. Skinamarink felt like a nightmare that you were forced to remember every moment of. Enys Men feels like a dream you don’t understand. There’s value in that experience. Precisely this value:
3/5
Enys Men Link
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Enys Men Trailer
If you enjoyed this review of Enys Men, check out Shifted and Family Dinner
