Written and directed by Zach Cregger, Barbarian is an excellent horror film that may put off many viewers with a structure that almost places it in the category of anthology movie. Jumping between various points in time, and various main characters, the first viewing may leave you feeling a bit bewildered until everything starts to knit together, but stick with it and you will be rewarded with a very dark and twisted piece of work.
Things start with Tess (Georgina Campbell) turning up to stay at a house she has rented, only to find that the property has also been rented to someone else by mistake. That person is Keith (Bill Skarsgård). He seems lovely and considerate, but he also brings the baggage of being Bill Skarsgård, and this whole section has Cregger using lighting and camera angles to keep viewers as wary as Tess. Once this episode plays out, we then join AJ (Justin Long), a cocky actor who finds out that his career is about to suffer from an accusation of rape. Desperately pooling his money and resources for the legal battles ahead, AJ travels to a property that he has had an agency renting out on his behalf. Yep, it’s the house that Tess and Keith stayed in. The neighbourhood seems to have gone to pot, but AJ’s house could still have some value. One more jump back in time shows us a previous resident of the house (played by Richard Brake) and then it is time to connect everything together for an intense and entertaining final act.
Mixing a number of familiar horror movie standards into something that feels new and bang up to date, Cregger proves himself a smart and confident helmsman with Barbarian. You get tension, scares, and some great gore moments, but you also get thought-provoking commentary on gentrification, class division, abuse, and the danger in the world around us that just keeps encroaching on any lone female. None of this stuff brings the film to a halt, and the fact that it’s all woven so well through the script is testament to Cregger’s talent, although his cast also help with pitch-perfect performances.
Campbell is a very likable lead, and viewers are on her side as soon as things start to feel tense (which happens within the first few minutes). Skarsgård is also very likable here, his manner and thoughtfulness at odds with the threat we perceive in him, which is how Tess perceives him. Then you have Long, delivering a brash and unpleasant turn that has you rooting for his character to meet a sticky end. Although he isn’t a good person, he is there to provide a very interesting juxtaposition and comparison point with someone even worse (Brake, doing well with his short amount of screentime).
It’s hard to write about this while preserving the element of surprise. Those who have already seen the film will know the elephant in the room that I haven’t tried to describe. Those yet to see the film may not be convinced by my selective summary, but I hope you give it a go and enjoy a surprise or two. There are a couple of moments here that sit quite high on any list of great moments from horror movies released within the last few years, and Cregger paces everything perfectly as viewers are moved between gruelling moments of unpleasantness and more entertaining bits of horror movie “fun”. Absolutely brilliant stuff.
8/10
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