MANODROME
by Rose Finlay

John Trengove, UK, USA 2023

Ralphie (Jesse Eisenberg) is an underemployed Uber driver who is under a lot of stress. He does not particularly like himself, struggles with his self-image, and is decidedly uncertain about his future, particularly as his girlfriend is pregnant with his first child. When an acquaintance introduces him to a group of men who seem to have the answers to his gaining more respect both internally and externally, Ralphie is at first suspicious, but soon finds it too tempting to ignore. It doesn’t take long for him to become fully indoctrinated, but instead of finding liberation, he instead falls deeper into an existential hole that has violent repercussions.

While director/screenwriter John Trengove tried to give a well-rounded composition of how men can fall into a masculinity cult, somehow the result still feels like it doesn’t provide the clarity it hoped to. Ralphie is a reticent character, so the audience doesn’t get much insight into his thoughts and feelings outside of the situational, such as his poverty and difficult childhood. Also in the end, it is revealed that he is also attracted to men, albeit in a deeply self-loathing, closeted, and violent way. This sudden homosexual reveal feels cliched, as if it tries to say that the key to extreme masculinity is somehow a self-hatred rooted in the evils of society’s heteronormativity. There may be some hint of the truth there, but it does feel overly simplistic and overdone. While MANODROME is well-paced and rarely boring, it does little to bring new perspectives to an important topic.