Barbarian

An inventive and twisty horror thriller that delivers tension and chills (rather than just cheap jump-scares), and which goes in directions you’ll never see coming.

Premise:  After arriving late at night to the Airbnb that she booked for a job interview in Detroit, Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) finds that the house has been double-booked when a confused Keith (Bill Skarsgård) answers the door.  He invites her in from the rain while they try to resolve the mistake with the booking agents … but Tess can’t quite shake the feeling that Keith is not to be trusted...

Review:

I’m not a massive fan of horror films (I’m too much of a wuss), so I bypassed Barbarian in the cinema – but it was getting so much word-of-mouth buzz that I gave it a try on home entertainment, and I’m glad that I did.

First time (solo) director Zach Cregger may have come from a comedy background, but as Jordan Peele has shown in recent years, some of the most inventive horror movies have come from writer/directors with a comedy background, and Zach Cregger is no exception here.  And like Jordan Peele’s recent movies , while there’s definitely a streak of dark humour that runs through Barbarian, it can in no way be described as a “horror-comedy”.

“…the story unfolds in a very unpredictable way…”

Reviewing Barbarian is tricky, because anything that happens after the first 20 minutes or so could be considered to be a spoiler – and a lot happens after the first 20 minutes that you won’t see coming.  For example, it’s not a spoiler to say that Justin Long is in the film (he’s the third-billed actor named on the poster), but he doesn’t even appear until around halfway through the movie.

What I can say is that the unpredictable way in which the story unfolds is part of what makes Barbarian such an impressive film – so if you have a chance to watch it without knowing anything much about it in advance, that might be your best option.  The film repeatedly zigs when you expect it to zag, plays with expectations before subverting them, and even breaks the rules regarding structure and storytelling conventions – but always in a way that keeps you intrigued, rather than irritated.

“…Georgina Campbell is great in what should be a breakout role for her…”

The main three cast members are all great, in particular Georgina Campbell in what should hopefully be a breakout role for her.  When I first watched the movie, I did struggle with some of the choices that her character (Tess) makes, as some of these arguably appear to be “dumb horror movie decisions”, at least at first.  But as the movie progresses, two things become clear: firstly, that Tess’ decisions are often motivated by empathy and morality rather than self-interest (which is not inherently a character flaw), and secondly, that Tess doesn’t know she’s in a horror film, and so is behaving like someone arguably would in real life.  One of the main themes of the film (themes are easier to avoid spoilers for than the plot) is that to navigate their way through our patriarchal society, many women have to force themselves to ignore the inner voice that warns them that something isn’t right – but when you do that, how do you distinguish potential paranoia from genuine danger?

In the film, this dilemma is personified by Bill Skarsgård’s character, who appears on the surface to be a decent and helpful guy, but who is clearly setting off all sorts of red flags for Tess.  Meanwhile, it’s very difficult to say anything much about Justin Long’s character (given that he doesn’t appear until later in the film), but looking again at the themes of the movie, his character represents the different perspectives that a white, straight male can have of events and people, based on his own experience and world-views.

“…signals Zach Cregger as a talent to keep an eye on…”

Zach Cregger’s direction is also surprisingly inventive for someone so (relatively) inexperienced – not only is he great at cranking up the tension by cleverly not showing things at certain points, but he also displays a creative playfulness, like switching the aspect ratio and image quality during a flashback to the 80s.  He and his director of photography also do a fantastic job with the film’s use of light and darkness, so that (for example) in the exterior night time scene when Tess first arrives at the Airbnb, the world outside looks like a dark void where the house is the only beacon of light, which heightens Tess’ feeling that there may be no alternative but to take the available “port in the storm”.

By my standards, Barbarian was a scary horror film, but not oppressively so.  That said, it earns its 18 rating, not just with its tension but also for its moments of gore and violence – although again, these are all in the service of the story, and never feel gratuitous or excessive.  Overall, if you’re a fan of clever, unexpected horror/thrillers, Barbarian is definitely worth checking out, and signals Zach Cregger as a talent to keep an eye on.