Barbarian

Movie Name: Barbarian
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgaard, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler, Jaymes Butler, Sophie Sorensen, Rachel Fowler, J.R. Esposito, Kate Nichols
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon Prime

Synopsis and Review

The low budget "Barbarian" was one of the surprise hits of 2022 and placed actor/writer/director Zach Cregger as a name to watch out for. The film focuses its attention on Tess Marshall, whom we soon witness arriving at a rundown Detroit neighborhood to spend the night, since she's up for a job interview the following day. Her Air BNB however has been double booked, and is already occupied. The current occupant introduces himself as Keith, and is also surprised by the situation. Since it's late he decides to invite her in, and they settle on sleeping arrangements. The next day she goes for her interview and is warned about the area where she's staying. A homeless man also tells her to leave. She becomes locked in the basement and uncovers a hidden corridor which leads to a room with a video recorder, a mattress and a bloody footprint. When Keith returns, he frees Tess and decides to investigate the hidden corridor. When he doesn't show up, Tess goes seek him out, and uncovers a subterranean tunnel which is attached to the corridor, where she finds Keith injured. They are both attacked by a naked woman who kills Keith and takes Tess. A few weeks later AJ, an actor living in LA and the house's owner, is involved in a misconduct scandal, which prompts him to have to rethink his living arrangements and cost management. He flies to Detroit to inspect the house before selling it, and finds Tess and Keith's materials still in it. As he investigates the basement and tunnel beneath the house, he's also attacked by the same naked woman, and is taken as prisoner.

"Barbarian" caught everyone's attention due to the tilts that are contained in the narrative, both with the introduction and addition of AJ's character, and also with the context as to what was the origin of the whole "creature", with the flashback towards Frank's character. However these tilts and changes in direction, while adding interesting layers to the events taking place in the narrative, they can't hide the fact that these characters are rather flimsy in their description and embodiment. Tess and Keith are rather generic constructs, and only Justin Long's AJ actually has more dimension to himself, portraying someone who is rather egocentric and selfish, ultimately only looking out for himself. The director manages to create a suspenseful environment, however the more he starts showing the entity, the less interesting the events surrounding it become. By the end the film becomes rather trivial. The apparent triviality of the premise and the journey it takes its characters on, while peppered with some interesting details, it ultimately falls into the trappings of gory horror films. The cast tries their best with the material they have, and Justin Long is a great addition to the narrative and its best highlight. The production team is effective, with a solid cinematography from Zach Kuperstein, and score from Anna Drubich. It's a watchable film though not necessarily a memorable one.