Barbarian Movie Review – A Rare Horror Gem?

Barbarian is a new horror film from 20th Century Fox that is written & directed by Zach Cregger. The film is stars Bill Skarsgard, Georgina Campbell and Justin Long. I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this film is coming out. So naturally, I had not seen any trailers or promotional material for the film. However, a few days ago I read a lot of good about the film on the internet. I was delighted that a new horror film is coming out which is good. I made the brilliant decision of not watching any trailers of the film, however to be honest, I’ve seen the trailer now and it doesn’t necessarily spoil anything. The trailer is intentionally very vague. Kudos to Fox for the same. The only thing that I knew about the film was the premise which I read off the internet.

The favor I did to me, I’ll do the same for you. This is the premise on Wikipedia: “A young woman discovers the rental home she booked is already occupied by a stranger. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the night but soon discovers there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.” If you’ve not watched any trailers of the film yet or read anything specific than please avoid doing it. Simply step into the theatre and experience the film. I’ll be getting into spoilers in this article, so if you haven’t seen the film yet directly skip to the Verdict section. Watch the film and come back read the entire article.

Rating – ★★★★★

Barbarian: What was going on in the film?

Before I start, another heavy spoiler warning is in effect. So, the film starts exactly how the trailer and premise promised us. A lady- Tess enters a house that she’d booked on AirBnB but finds another man living there. She discovers that both had booked the same house because of some scheduling issues caused by the website guys. What follows from here is an excruciatingly engaging first act. We’ve entered the film just like the protagonist where we don’t know whom to trust. We see Keith and he looks fine but we can feel that something is off about him.

Barbarian actually develops the relationship between Tess and Keith. However, because we know it is a horror film there is something about this place. We just don’t know what. We’re constantly feeling the tension rising but it never releases. The real film starts when Tess actually goes out in the basement to get the toilet paper. That is when she discovers the secret door where there is a room that looks like torture dungeon. A dirty bed, camcorder and blood hand print are the constituents of this room.

I’ll not get into details of what happens next but basically, there is another secret doorway that leads further below and there’s some serious shot out there. Keith is trapped there and Tess unwillingly goes inside to help him. It is like a huge, maze like cave that we don’t know where it leads to. As she goes further, she finally finds Keith and tells her something bit him and they have to get out of here. However, before they could figure that out the thing that bit him comes out and smashes his head to bits.

However, after this the film cuts to an entirely different track. An actor A.J. who is charged with sexual assault with his co-star. To bear his expenses he must liquidate his property which is the same house where Tess is trapped. He goes there to sell the house and then discovers that there is a squatter in his house. He goes in the basement to measure it so that he can add to the overall sq. ft. of the house. He gets trapped as well. From here on we learn a lot of new things.

The backstory is basically, that this psycho used to kidnap women, have a child with them and then have a child with that child. So many years of incest resulted into the creature in the dungeon. The creature simply wants to captive these people and treat them like her children. While all this I’m telling might not interest you or might seem like a culmination of different horror films. However, I’m simply explaining things to you, the film will give you an experience like none.

Verdict

Barbarian has the annoying quality being absolutely unpredictable. We’ve all seen a lot of films and in the end mostly the protagonist wins. However, in this film I was genuinely caught off guard as I was unsure of what would happen where at some point I even thought our protagonist might die and because of this I felt fear. True fear. The last time I felt fear or I was afraid was in 2017 when watched Annabelle: Creation and IT. The film is also extremely self-aware. It knows the material it has cannot last for a feature.

So, they bring in other elements and normally I would say something like, it feels stretched or forced but this film does it so well. The film defies every principle of screenwriting but it defies them to brilliantly that you’re never left unsatisfied. Another superb thing in the writing is that in any horror film we have often noticed that the protagonist makes awfully stupid decisions. Not this one. It is as if the writer has seen all horror films and made sure that no decision in the film should seem like dumb.

There are times when you’d think that it is dumb decision but she always subverts the expectations by what she actually has done. Barbarian doesn’t waste our time and keeps everything extremely crisp. The most famous person in the film’s cast Bill Skarsgard dies in the first 30 minutes. At midpoint, the film starts telling an entirely different story with a new protagonist who is jerk but then connects both the story. The characterization in the film is brilliant as well. Also, I don’t know whether you’d notice but the film is very funny, in a dark way.

The cinematography of the film is as good as its writing. It complements the vision and the emotion of a particular scene. I haven’t seen anything Zach Cregger but I would like to. I don’t know whether this is his directorial debut if yes then kudos man, the film is brilliant. Although, the direction is too mature for a first timer. I’m in absolute love of the film. Its unpredictability does wonders for it. At a point, we feel the film has ended but no there is another twist coming in. The imagery in the film is disturbing.

It uses gore or blood only when needed but when it does, the film doesn’t hold back. However, there is a ton of disturbing imagery in the film. This is an extremely fresh film and its ratings reflect that. Barbarian has a 7.6/10 score on IMDb and a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 92%. This is another film of the year that I was not planning to watch but became one of the best films coming out in 2022. It adds itself to the holy list of films like Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis. I’m still confused whether this is my favorite film of the year or not.

For now, I’m still siding with Maverick but this is definitely in the top three. You never know, maybe with time the film will climb up and take the throne. Barbarian is one of the best films of the year, if not the best! It is horror gold. So unpredictable. If you haven’t seen the film already then definitely check it out. It’s worth every penny. Although, if you live in India then you can’t as it isn’t releasing here. I was lucky enough to watch the film at a special film.

Barbarian for me some of the best horror films I’ve seen. It’s without a doubt a 5 out of 5 stars movie. Definitely check it out!

Check Out the Full Trailer of Barbarian on YouTube:

Barbarian is currently playing in theatres near you.

If you have any questions regarding Barbarian, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!