If you’ve followed Barbarian’s release or traction on social media, you’ll likely have seen two reoccurring thoughts: it’s not the movie you’re expecting it to be and go in knowing as little as possible. And I’m here to echo both of of those, which makes reviewing Barbarian a bit of a challenge. But we’ll do the best we can, yeah?
Thankfully, the Barbarian trailers held back most of the juicy parts of the plot, so after the first 15-20 minutes or so, it’s almost all scenes you won’t have seen. In a time when so many movies seem to give away so much in their trailers, it’s a welcome change of pace. But what you do see is this.
Tess (Georgina Campbell) is travelling to Detroit for a job interview. When she arrives at her Airbnb, she discovers another renter, Keith (Bill Skarsgård) is already there. He had rented through a different service, resulting in an accidental double booking. It’s late at night, and they’re unable to get ahold of anyone to figure out what to do. Keith offers to let Tess stay the night, as there is a convention in town and all hotels are fully booked. Perhaps against her better judgement, she agrees. But Tess will soon discover there’s much more to fear in that house than a stranger.
And that’s about where the trailers end. You see some shots of Tess discovering a hidden room in the basement, leading to a cavern of mysterious tunnels. So that’s clearly where most of the danger and gore and horror comes from. But as far as exactly – or even broadly – what the deal is, that’s a mystery you’ll have to see the movie to find out.
So what can we talk about? First off, it was a brilliant move casting Skarsgård. Best known for his work as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, horror fans might come to expect him to play a creep or otherwise bad guy, just by the fact that he’s in a horror movie. And he’s fantastic in this role, giving off just enough weirdo vibes to make you think he might be a sinister character. But then he’ll turn around with some humor and genuine “good guy” moments that might indicate he’s not in on it. The script, along with Skarsgård excellent work, keep you guessing right up until the moment you definitively find out.
Georgina Campbell is just as good every step of the way, if not better. You completely buy into her character and story from the first frame, and you stay invested with her the entire time. She seems like a perfect fit for horror, with great reactions and facial and other non-verbal acting.
The only minor (and I mean *minor*) spoiler I’ll include is another actor who appears. I didn’t know he was in the movie until I saw it, but he’s been listed on the cast lists and all that, so it’s hard to even call it a spoiler. Justin Long shows up about halfway through, and he’s incredible. I won’t get into why that is, or how his character fits into the larger story. But his appearance represents a huge tonal shift in the movie, and he his in complete command from that point on.
Long’s introduction isn’t the only time Barbarian drastically shifts its tone. That could be one piece that throws some people off, as it might interrupt the flow of the movie for them. I personally loved it, and thought the different changes were included and timed perfectly. They also could make the overall story feel a bit clunky, as you’re left to wonder how these different characters and story beats could possibly all tie together. I would preach patience there. It’s a complicated web that does (mostly) come together in the end.
That ending, though, (or maybe more appropriately, the final act) is the other part that might not jive with everyone. The ultimate reveal or explanation felt a bit lacking. Barbarian kind of finds itself in this odd, no man’s land. They teased it out a little bit, but not enough to be fully satisfactory. It should have either been left more ambiguous, or gone into more detail. But that’s just me. I usually don’t like the middle ground for these kinds of explanations. It might work for others. That being said, though, this is a minor quibble in an otherwise excellent movie.
Even without fully sticking the landing, there’s so much goodwill built up through the rest of the movie, that it’s hard to ding Barbarian too much. The whole atmosphere and vibe of the movie is perfectly curated. Excellent sound and set design and impressive makeup work are really effective players here as well.
Barbarian is not the movie I was expecting, and that’s a great thing. I’m not usually a big horror fan, but when it hits, it hits (see X, from earlier this year). 100 movies into 2022, I never would have guessed a movie like Barbarian would crack my top 10, but here we are. I doubt it will stay there, with so many big hitters left to come. But still.
Once again, go in knowing as little as possible, and see it in as full of a theater as you can find. I’m not usually one for big reactions from the audience. But the constant gasps and screams and other reactions were just another winning element to the surprise that is Barbarian.
Score: 91/100
