Obviously, staying with a stranger is uncomfortable. Tess keeps her guards up by always observing her surroundings and locking every door she enters. Keith understands her fear and frustrations. So he tries his best to make her comfortable by offering her tea and starting small talk. After a while, the awkwardness disappeared, and they laughed the night off. Everything seems alright, after all.
But something is still off and she can feel it. Maybe with Keith? Maybe with the house? Tess would soon find out the answer after she discovers a hidden room in their AirBnB’s basement.
2022 is a good year for horror movies. From Ti West’s "Pearl" to Jordan Peele’s "NOPE", there’s no shortage of innovative and scary features. And it’s a bold statement to say that despite the large volume of spooky films out there, "Barbarian" is probably among the best in the genre so far.
"Barbarian" started really well. It follows Campbell as she tries to break down the character of the enigmatic Skarsgård. It screams trouble. And it capitalized on this sense of dread. It’s a trailblazing and gripping 20-minute opening act that would set the ball rolling for 40 plus minutes of barbaric violence and clever twists and turns.
"Barbarian" functions on a tired concept, and it acknowledges its limitations. It is not experimental nor ambitious. It does not hide in allegories and absurdities. It is not an elevated horror. Yet, it excels.
Nowadays, it is almost a code for horrors to touch on pressing topics. The genre somehow demands that the conflict of the story be mostly internal. The problem should always be psychological; it's not in the things we see, but in the mind. "Barbarian" is not pretentious to think that this is not always the case. Horror movies don’t need to be a hard commentary on something to work. It sometimes just needs to be terrifying enough for the message to stick. Sometimes, creepy visuals and a few good jumpscares are enough to make a point.
"Barbaric" is not anti-elevated; it simply believes that there is no shame in giving a body to trauma and fear. It will look ugly and terrifying, but that is the point. Defeating something that has a physical appearance can give the audience a greater sense of empowerment and triumph.
So "Barbarian" is a straightforward horror film that puts the meaning of the story behind and the terror upfront. It’s fun and pleasing, and it’s mostly because of the characters we follow. Tess is an observer and a thinker. Her ability to sense danger and respond to it adds a good chunk of entertainment to a familiar premise. Keith falls perfectly in the middle of creepy, cute, and awkward. It’s difficult to assess his intention since Bill Skarsgård can be so charming yet despicable at the same time. As the second half unfolds, the third player of the game enters. Justin Long plays an actor named AJ, and he’s the definition of a typical douchebag in every horror movie. He’s loud, clumsy, and annoying. The person who will raise the stakes and risk of the situation.
The only thing that hampers it from being perfect is the structure of the storytelling. Cregger fails to fully capture the momentum of the first act into the second. The tension fluctuates. It picks up pace by the last act, but the reward for the brutal payoff is not as sweet as expected. But if there’s any consolation in this, it is the part wherein the message of humanity, violence, and anguish occur. Even though it’s not a rigid thesis like most films, it still offers meaningful insight into the topics.
To cap things off, "Barbarian" shows impressive direction from Cregger. It’s like a mix of contemporary and 80’s horror with all the camera movement and framing. It is well crafted, well written, and well shot. You can tell that a lot of thought has been put into it. Cregger might be the new kid on the block, but he’s immediately the talk of the town.
4/5
