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Barbarian Movie Review

Barbarian is a 2022 horror film directed by Zach Cregger and starring Georgina Campbell and Justin Long. It is one of the best horror movies of the year.

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“You cannot get it upset“

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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. 2022 was one truly terrific year for horror movies, especially slashers. This one, however, is more supernatural, which personally appeals to me more. Its central mystery is so compelling that you can forgive the movie for countless plot holes.

I did predict some of its twists and turns, but that is because I have watched thousands of films, but in reality most of the twists here will prove to be wildly unpredictable and unexpected to most people. The story is original to the point that it spins an entirely fresh take on the supernatural horror genre. Again, characters do behave in a very implausible manner – they go into the dark basement corridors when in reality no sane person would ever do such a thing.

But that is expected of most horror movies, so ultimately I did not mind it too much. The ending was only solid and certainly not measuring to the greatness of the remainder of the film, but it was capped with Be My Baby, a song which I love, so it takes bonus points for that. The highlight is the structure that is unexpectedly unique for this genre.

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What we get here is a second act that introduces an entirely new character to the proceedings, but eventually connecting him to the main storyline effortlessly well. The character in question AJ played so charismatically and amusingly by Justin Long. He imbued a lot of humor into the project, which was quite welcome. This character is your typical toxic male celebrity, but he works because he is superbly portrayed and very well written.

The fact that the film takes its time to actually develop the characters made it much more complex and admirable than others in its genre. While Tess is your standard horror heroine final girl who doesn’t get much development, she is still very likable and well performed by Georgina Campbell.

The standout characters are the supernatural ones and the less said about that twist the better. Let’s just say that through these supernatural entities the film explored the theme of motherhood, but in a grotesque manner that evoked the famous X-Files episode Home. That influence is obvious, but the film still did its own take on that story that felt fresh while the serial killer subplot was perfectly incorporated into the main story as well.

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The editing in Barbarian is phenomenal thankfully so as the movie really needed it due to its advanced structure. I personally admired that daring second act the most, but the first one set the stage for the story remarkably well. The effects are pretty good too while the directing and cinematography are both excellent. The dialogue is surprisingly strong while the injected dose of black humor was quite welcome.