Barbarian
Georgina Campbell in Barbarian (20th Century Studios)
Comedians making a leap into the horror genre is no secret, not now after the case studies of Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us, Nope), Chris Rock (Spiral), and Danny McBride (newest Halloween trilogy) have made their contributions heard. So, it comes as no massive surprise to see Zach Cregger, the director of Miss March and an actor in various comedy films/series such as Date and Switch and Wrecked, try his luck at the transition.
Barbarian is a curious little number. This AirBnB thriller doesn’t entirely work overall, but it takes broad strokes that you can’t help but respect.
Georgina Campbell (who you might recognise from Black Mirror’s Hang the Dj) plays Tess, a woman who is visiting Detroit for a job. In the ‘rough-is-an-understatement’ neighbourhood of Brightmoor, her AirBnB is already occupied by a stranger, Keith (Bill Skarsgård). Against her better judgement, she decides to stay the night.
Barbarian is a film that is bold in its twists and turns. The tonal jarring of the piece is both its biggest flaw, and its strongest asset. Though the trailers and teases may lead you to believe that this is on the same page as something like As Above, So Below, we’re instead treated to what feels like a Sam Raimi re-do of Alex Garland’s Men. Whilst Men is muddled in its thematic ongoings, I feel like Barbarian at least knows how to take its strides and makes heavy entertainment out of its point-making.
Chasing the threads conjured by Barbarian is exciting, but the film gets lost in setting up its threads and how many of them there are to chase. There’s a certain ‘stop-start’ element to the narrative that is intentionally confusing, baffling even. Justin Long’s inharmoniously inserted mid-film appearance breaks in an unserious atmosphere that ensures you don’t take anything here *too* seriously. The tonal shift, whilst wholly amusing, detracts from any real seriousness to the horrors that lurk underneath the surface.
Barbarian has delighted many in its savage abandon of predictability, and I think it does work as a piece of pure leisurely fun, it’s just not nearly as turbulent or unruly as you might think. Still, it’s all worth it for the delightful confusion that touches the entire auditorium – see this one with a crowd.
