Barbarian – Review
102 Minutes, Rated R
Written and Directed by Zach Cregger
Synopsis:
A young woman traveling to Detroit for a job interview books a rental home. But when she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house is double booked, and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.
A set-up that could just as easily have led into a romantic comedy instead meanders toward horror, slow-walking and poor-choicing its way through a probably more-common-than-not Airbnb situation directly into an X-Files episode that only airs once before being put on a shelf.
That’s not to say that Barbarian is bad, as the first third of the film provides a solid, if a little lazily paced, tension-builder wherein we don’t know if Bill Skarsgard’s Keith
[This Bill
not this Bill]
is going to wind up being a psychotic killer or not, despite seeming so normal after Tess winds up on his doorstep in the middle of the night after a double-booked fiasco.
A glass of wine, a surprisingly relaxing conversation, some light sexual tension, and then the shit hits the fan.
And what starts it all? No toilet paper in the bathroom.
I shit you not (pun not intended… very much).
Tess goes into the basement for a replacement roll and the basement door gets stuck, and in searching for a way out, Tess finds a secret door.
Bad choice: go down the dark creepy hidden hallway under the house in the bombed-out neighborhood in suburban Detroit.
She does and things escalate from there as Keith goes to investigate and… well, then the film shifts to the POV of Justin Long’s character, a douchebag of an actor whose life has just imploded after a scandal, and he returns to Detroit to liquidate some properties he owns.
Guess which one he owns?
Look, the film does take a long time getting to the good stuff, and there’s a bit of a bumpy bit after Justin Long shows up, but then gets back on track as some straight-up dark and messed-up horror.
And honestly, Justin Long may just be the worst person in cinema ever in this movie.
Ever.
Overall, Barbarian is uneven, but is ultimately enjoyable as a bat-shit crazy take on some classic horror tropes.
Think Malignant-level bat-shit crazy.
Oh, and as for why it’s called Barbarian? It’s obvious enough if you’re paying attention.
Barbarian hits theaters on September 9 and stars Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler and Jaymes Butler
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