Spooky season approaches its grand finale with Halloween on Monday. Whether you’re exhausted from a weekend of themed celebrations or trick-or-treating with the kids, Monday night offers the perfect chance to cap it all off with a spook-tacular film. If you’re looking for chills and thrills, the new horror film Barbarian is the one to watch.
Traveling to Detroit for a job interview, Tess (Georgina Campbell) arrives at her Airbnb rental house late on a stormy night to find the place has been double-booked and is already occupied by a man named Keith (Bill Skarsgård). He invites her inside while they figure out a plan, and after a few failed phone calls they decide they’ll both stay—Tess in the bedroom and Keith on the living room couch. Tess is uncertain about Keith, but even less so about driving around an unfamiliar area in the middle of the night.
Her suspicions (and ours) about Keith ebb and flow as Skarsgård delivers perfectly between awkward-yet-earnest charm and understated creep. He keeps the audience constantly on edge as we try to decipher his character and wait tensely for his next move. Soon, Tess learns there is more to fear in the house as she makes a terrifying discovery. It only increases our conflicted beliefs about Keith — is he a sinister spider luring Tess into his dark web, or is he just another helpless fly?
Writer/director Zach Cregger makes it a difficult film to discuss because the less the audience knows going into the film, the more entertaining the viewing experience will be. Without going into detail, Cregger provides more story than expected and takes the narrative in twists and turns that subvert audience expectations. At times the film is predictable, but overall it’s a cleverly crafted tale that keeps the tension high and delivers plenty of shocks and jump scares. It’s effective at shifting narrative gears at the right time to provide relief and create new momentum and intrigue. Cregger also draws on his background in comedic acting to inject morbid levity into the film, particularly in regards Justin Long’s character.
Not much can be said about where or how Long fits into the story without giving too much away. It’s wildly more fun to watch the film without knowing anything about his role. Suffice it to say, he has a punchy entrance and delivers a great performance that plays with our expectations.
Campbell also gives a solid, relatable performance as Tess, and we root for her to survive as she navigates the horrors of the house. Nobody is safe, however, and Cregger dangles question marks around every character’s fate until the final note (and possibly even thereafter).
Like most films of the genre, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is required, and there are certainly frustrating tropes at play that have you rolling your eyes in exasperation, such as characters making classic ‘don’t-go-down-there’ type of decisions. But these seem fewer than average, and for the most part reasonable context is provided. (The useless-police trope, however, will make you want to throw something at the screen.)
Nevertheless, Barbarian’s creative story feels fresh and contains more depth than many of its genre counterparts. The film also makes effective use of space, as the story largely takes place inside the house, and the cinematography takes advantage of our fear and heightens our feelings of danger and entrapment.
Barbarian will have you thinking twice about booking your next rental house and even wondering what might be lurking within your own. Barbarian is currently playing in theatres, but if you prefer to watch from the questionable safety of your own home, the movie is also available on the Disney+ platform.
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