Barbarian is a very well crafted film that mostly rises above the current crop of 'male feminist allies letting everyone know they get it' horror in the vein of Alex Garland's Men by taking a more incisive and damning approach highlighting not primal male nature but choice and self delusion and gratification. Justin Long's AJ is just top notch detestable in all too human and real ways, almost a deconstruction of the Bojack Horseman archetype (coming from someone who loved that show). No amount of heartfelt monologues and self loathing and declarations of change will actually get him to change, it'll just affect how he spins the story into not being his fault. And the line drawn between that and the movie's more conventional, monstrous, and 'standard' villain behind it all is brutal. It makes no illusions about how they're of the same kind behind the words, how rarely they face consequences, the trauma and destruction they leave in their wake.
The focus given to this does mean that sadly Tessa's arc doesn't fully stick the landing as well. A shame, cause Campbell is excellent at getting to root for her. Tessa is not a stereotype in either direction, either as the helpless waif or the badass who turns the table on the monster. She's a woman who makes the difficult choice to leave a bad relationship and try to change things for the better, who is understandably suspicious of her accidental 'roommate' but also can't help but be giddy when they start to connect. Campbell portrays all these complexities with a vulnerability that is impossible to look away from, and she shines in the first act.
In particular, I love how she acts like a real person would: with a mix of smart decisions and panicked ones. She comes up with smart ideas, like illuminating dark tunnels before going in, but in her terror she forgets things, or her heart sends her back to help. It's not a rebuke of horror movie cliches so much as a fond engagement with them, especially when it's contrasted with AJ's nonstop stupid choices motivated by desperate greed and petulance. It goes to show that character driven actions are the key, and that 'cliche' doesn't equal 'bad' if you have a knowing point with it. But it's also when AJ enters that Tessa's story falls off a bit.
It becomes less about her and more about contrasting her to the men. The climax doesn't really tie into where she started- leaving a toxic and maybe even emotionally abusive relationship- so much as having what AJ lacks: empathy. Empathy is what allows her to face the tragic monster on its own terms, in a kill that's as much a mercy as it is for her own escape. But it leaves her story lacking a certain finish that could've really elevated her character.
But again, they nail what they're going for with AJ. And for a movie that's often in the dark, it's never ineligible. The dark conceals just enough to keep the suspense going, and provide glimpses of the oncoming danger far more effective than any jump scare. The film's general avoidance of them really keeps the suspense up, avoiding the pressure valve release they bring for much more fun ones like some delightful cuts and Justin Long's great expressions and delivery. While not without some flaws, Barbarian is a great film well worth the watch and more than worthy of fitting into anyone's October.
I know a horror movie is well made when I have to pause it multiple times to give myself a break from the tension. Although, in this film's case, I'd also point out that the movie itself did an excellent job of providing those tension release moments. I still ended up supplementing them with some pauses of my own, but I really enjoyed the structure. The transition and new character introduction after the first major horror beat was fantastic and the build up to having his story intersect with the central horror plot was brilliant writing. In fact, I'd complement virtually all of the writing. The top level premise is clever and well executed, and the moment to moment dialogue is strong, even delivering a few great humorous moments (the whole scene with Justin Long busting out the measuring tape was great). It also doesn't hurt that the three central performances are all excellent.
As far as minor criticisms go, the movie does have its fair share of groan inducing decision making by characters that clearly have never seen a horror movie themselves. There's also the completely implausible superhuman strength of the monster. Finally, I was a bit disappointed in the ultimate direction that Justin Long's character took. There were a few ham fisted dialogue exchanges that sacrificed any potential nuance in favor of making him a cartoon villain. That said, the execution is so strong that none of these issues/moments detracted meaningfully.
A twisty winding unpredictable film with suspense. Best to not read much before watching. Enjoyable and some scares / gore for horror fans.
The film successfully takes you down several blind alleyways using misdirection to build suspense and drama into the story.
Acting is great particularly the lead female who has to act some really complex shifting emotions.
The most successful "horror" bit of the movie for me is the first act - Airbnb - where trust / gender / vulnerability issues are played with well, but in a more traditional way. The female lead keeps this feeling fresh by being smart and relatable.
The middle act "back stories" is not paced well I think. More could be made of the houses backstory, its over very quickly so the significance of the events doesn't settle in. The back story of the third character to enter the house is fine, not too much for me, but it made me wonder about whether a different more subtle monster is being showcased - one driven by privilege and entitlement.
Final act "chase" is a different type of horror feel - the grotesque, panicked, survival type. It's engaging and stays unpredictable. There are some satisfying moments too..
I found the pacing off and the tone shifts a tad unsettling too. There are elements of comedy horror which sometimes work very well but at other moments cut the tension that was being built - (rubber arms is all I'm going to say).
Enjoyed watching this but for me won't hold up to a second viewing, and some flaws
Also. I would definitely share an Airbnb with Bill Skarsgard under the same circumstances!
There are a number of good twists and turns in this. It's not scary as much as it is unsettling, and the subtext that I picked up on was more about preconceived notions and how we are conditioned to think and believe. Tess makes a lot of mistakes in judgement of people based on what she's been told or absorbed from culture, society, etc., like her reactions to Keith and even in her escape from the homeless man, Andre. Actually, even in her judgement of The Mother.
As far as the Horror aspects go, I have no idea if other viewers will find this frightening or not. I've seen so much Horror that not much scares me and unfortunately, my strongest reactions are to gore or disgusting behavior and that makes the genre much less fun for me now. Gore is not scary and thankfully "Barbarian" doesn't have much. The hidden rooms offer the greatest opportunity for creeps, other than the creep that AJ is. By the way, AJ's a despicable person and it's laid on a bit thick. Tess makes some stupid decisions but she has to because the movie requires her not to just get in her car and leave. The reasons she sticks around are a bit forced.
This isn't a typical Horror film and although it carries the typical clichés, it differs greatly in how it delivers its story. That's going to make viewers that are comfortable with a non-typical Horror movie happy and will probably upset those after a traditionally told tale.
Second or third time I've started this but this time I watched it all the way through. It was an okay movie but I'm not sure what all the uproar was about over it when it first released; I mean, it was just another horror movie... kind of a weird take on The Hills Have Eyes IMO. It wasn't a "bad" movie; in fact, it was well-acted and the suspense was there from the very outset, building throughout the first half of the film. I'll give the producers credit for one thing, though: whether it was planned or not, that sudden cut at the midway point of the film had me scratching my head wondering if I'd been duped into watching some lame joke. Finally the stories met back up and it started making sense again. Another prop to Barbarian is that it had some gory scenes in it...not "overkill" (pardon the expression) but enough to make it interesting...a real "gorror" film instead of just another suspenseful, creepy movie (not that I'm averse to those). The ending was weirdly touching, and the acting throughout the film was superb. I've never seen (that I can recall, anyway) this Justin Long in anything else but he played the douchebag to absolute perfection. From the moment you saw him 'til the moment you didn't, you just wanted him to get his just rewards. LOL He really pulled his part of beautifully in the film. The rest of the cast were great, as well, and the score and cinematography were very well done. My biggest complaint is simply that the storyline itself was just...meh...there really wasn't one. I can't imagine trying to read this in a novel because it was just too outlandish and ridiculous. I mean, sure, there are times you have to just disengage your brain and enjoy the show, but this... Hard to explain, but it oddly just felt like it was trying too hard to be believable...and it wasn't. It fell into that twilight zone sort of area where you couldn't believe it, but it wasn't outlandish enough to just unplug from reality and enjoy it (say like a Godzilla or Child's Play - type horror film). Apart from the (what I consider) weak storyline, however, the movie was enjoyable and well-done. Worth a watch for fans of horror movies but I would stop short of saying it's worth watching more than once. Definitely NOT sorry that I watched it, though; it was worth the watching.
This was so interesting but so weird and the ending was so so shit. Like why did she just escape like that and killed the monster mother thing. Like cmon now. But it was a really interesting film cant lie. I loved how they did different like times and went back and forth. I’m so sad that the Keith guy died like he was so sus but so sweet like aww he let her stay and waited to open the wine what a sweetheart. I can’t lie tho it was funny when the homeless guy was like she never comes here and then she just burst through and killed him like what the fuck. That other guy who owned the house was sooo annoying like first he raped that girl. I wasn’t sure if he actually did but after what he told his friend like you so did you little rat. Plus he throw her off the thingy like what a dick move. He was so annoying his death was so so ahhhh man. Like hes eyes and head getting squashed and ripped was scary. There was a few jump scares especially when the mother monster came like when we first saw her and she killed Keith. She was so scary. I want to know more about what happened to her and that old guy who’s her dad or grandad or something. Like what did he see on the tapes and why was that secret basement door there and what happened to those girls like they didn’t really tell us. Like that was annoying. But yeah. Also when the police didn’t believe her especially the black guy they were so rude like cmon now just look now that hard. Ummm but if I were her I wouldn’t have went back for that guy like you escaped just leave him man not your problem. I can’t lie I was shopping her and Keith so cute. I hope she gets her job too.
Solid, Omnious, Intriguing
Barbarian as the name suggests is a mystery which builds into this refreshingly new style of film. The film is a about a woman who books an Airbnb and something is wrong in the rented stay. The film starts off as a rom com and the slowly becomes engaging as the atmospheric tension becomes evident. And the pre interval block just knocks your socks off and you may get a shocker if you hadn't anticipated it. The films direction style is commendable, 3 individual chapters told separately and linearly finally coming into intersection because of the house. The screenplay is a rollercoaster and neither fast paced nor slow. But the score and the editing makes it engaging.
Georgina Campbell is fantastic, from start till finish she engrosses you with her grounded and realistic performance. The transition of her emotions in critical moments of the film is so perfect. Bill Skarsgard is a real charmer in the first half and definitely makes you like him instantly. His small appearance is commendable too. Justin Long is brilliant as the stay owner. His character itself remains a mystery untill the end which suddenly makes you feel for him in a moment to despise him in another. Very very good job.
Overall, Barbarian for me doesn't justifies its name with a solid back story , but it's transition of genre as a romantic to mystery to horror then back to thriller does make it a compelling and film which will remain in your heads a bit longer. The best part of the film is it leads you to something which you would have never imagined nor expected. I still wish the writing towards the end could have been better as it felt a bit rushed and unsatisfactory for me with the end. A little more backstory could have helped.
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Review by TheDarkSide2024BlockedParentSpoilers2022-10-26T23:37:38Z
What a collosal waste of time. If this is what passes as horror today I am so glad I grew out of that phase way back in the 80's.
It was literally like there were two sets of writers and directors, the first writer/director who wrote the beginning with the character Keith in it seemed to have something going and it certainly made it creepy and had me wondering what was going to happen but then once Keith was gone it was like they brought in a new writer and director who had no clue where to go with the plot or how to finish the movie.I was starting to wonder if half way through the movie I had somehow switched to another movie that seemed to have completely lost the plot.
The "Barbarian", I assume was the grotesque woman and not the man kidnapping women?, was creepy looking but hardly scary at all and wasn't used enough. I mean, really, they want us to be on the edge of our seats because she wants to keep them as her baby and feed them?? LOL
The guy kidnapping the women and who created the whole set up is some decrepit bedridden old man who can barely hold his pistol to kill himself and he was the only scary one :D
When the homeless guy says there is something even worse than the creepy lady I kept waiting for it to appear, maybe THAT is what the "barbarian" was going to be and would make it all worth the while to watch this movie.... nothing... crickets. Did they forget they mentioned it? or was it so uninspiring and forgettable I compeltely missed it?! :D :D :D
The sad thing is I usually read reviews first before watching a movie/show so I get at least some idea if it is worth it or whether it will interest me or not and when I saw consistant positive reviews (and 7 or higher ratings) I figured it was worth a shot. Really?? C'mon, someone could have warned me this was crap!!!