Barbarian Movie Review

Barbarian (2022)

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Written by: Zach Cregger
Directed by: Zach Cregger
Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Kate Bosworth
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
A woman staying at an Airbnb discovers that the house she has rented is not what it seems.

Verdict
If you like horror, this is a solid entry in the genre. It's certainly unsettling, and I like how it plays on your instincts. You know the characters shouldn't, but you understand why they do. There's a logic behind almost everyone's actions; this isn't a mindless slasher. There's the question of who is the bad guy, and then who is the worst of the bad guys. It feels inspired by some of the more insipid horror movies, but smarter in how it unfolds the plot and unsettles with imagery.
It depends.

Review
This wastes no time jumping into the plot. There's no character introduction, we start at the house. Everything about this situation is creepy, and surprisingly the neighborhood looks worse in the daylight.

I love the setup for this. Tess (Georgina Campbell) has booked this house, but someone is already there. She's concerned as well she should be with a strange man, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), and she's taking precautions while trying to manage the mixup and find a place to stay for the night. At this point there's a question of what should she be worried about. Who is the bad guy, and have we seen them yet?

Georgina Campbell plays Tess

This movie is unsettling. It's just these small moments where you know the character shouldn't, but they do anyway. Tess finds a strange room in the basement and can't help but satisfy her curiosity. This is a movie where the characters frequently defy their instincts, but you get why to a degree. At least she's smart in how she goes about things. It never feels like she makes a decision for the sake of the plot.

This story keeps getting deeper. Also, few movie use fade to black and black screen as effectively as this one does.

Bill Skarsgård plays Keith

AJ (Justin Long) seems nice enough at first, but we soon start to distrust him. His reaction to the strange room is slightly comical and also very odd. That's fitting for this character.

This movie builds a sense of dread. You can guess what's coming, and this movie makes you wait for it so long which just drives the tension.

Almost everyone is operating with a certain logic, and you may not like the basis for the a logic. We're introduced to a monster, but then this goes deeper. This movie does a great job of introducing characters, allowing us to make certain assumptions, and then twist those assumptions. The narrative turns provide a lot of substance to a genre that usually relies on cheap thrills.