Barbarian – Film Review

A young woman discovers the rental home she booked is already occupied by a stranger. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the night but soon discovers there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.

Because of just how many horror movies are released each and every year, it can often be incredibly difficult for a filmmaker to deliver a final product that’s truly surprising, game-changing, innovative, and fresh. Traditional horror films can be a blast for sure, but it’s always something quite special when a filmmaker can do something totally new.

That’s exactly what Zach Cregger has done with his new horror-thriller Barbarian – a legitimately bone-chillingly terrifying, bold, daring, and completely unpredictably wild thrill-ride that will leave the most hardened genre fans in awe. Even if you’ve never experienced what the horror genre is yet, this is an excellent way to get immersed into all it has to offer.

One of my favorite things about this entire thing is just how zigzaggy it all is, if that makes any sort of sense. The first act of the movie seems to be some creepy “don’t trust strangers” film, as we follow a young woman named Tess Marshall who checks into an Airbnb only to find out that someone else is living there at the moment.

To make matters even worse for Tess, the man who happens to be living there comes across as more than a little unnerving. He frequently offers her tea, but of course, she doesn’t drink it. How can she trust this man? She can’t, really. She is one of the smartest film characters in years. This is a horror film where our leads are not dumb.

But then, in the second act, the film takes a completely different turn and becomes a totally different movie. No, really. It does. Thankfully, the other half of this movie is just as exhilarating as the first half, if not more. The fact that this is Cregger’s first outing in the horror genre is absolutely astounding. It’s so well-crafted that you’d think he’s been making these his whole life.

The script is extremely sharp and the film is chalked full of gruesomeness that will satisfy any fan of the genre. There’s some stuff in the last thirty minutes that will make you go “what the hell?” more than a few times. It’s rare to find a horror film that’s completely unpredictable, but that’s exactly what Barbarian is.

All of the performances here are also fantastic, but namely from Georgina Campbell as Tess who sells every single scene she’s in. She is always convincing and makes for a remarkably solid protagonist that we can always root for. Sometimes in horror, we kind of want to see the main character get into some danger, but not here. Tess is a multi-layered character with tons of depth.

Justin Long is equally brilliant in the role of AJ, who is one of the film’s most interesting characters. Then, there’s Bill Skarsgård in the role of Keith who delivers one of the best performances of his career. He’s still best as the creepy Pennywise in the new It films, but his performance here is fantastically chilling.

There’s really nothing I didn’t like about Barbarian at the end of the day. From the moment it begins all the way up to its insane finale, this is a bonkers movie that never lets go of its grip on you. If this is playing at a movie theatre in your area, you need to seek it out immediately.

Barbarian is a legitimately bone-chillingly terrifying, gruesome, bizarre, and fantastically crazy horror film from Zach Cregger, who proves himself to be a master behind the camera.