Barbarian is another one of those wonderful horrors that the less you know going in the better. It’s not perfect and certainly not for everyone but the performances, the scares and the twists and turns are all so well executed, it could very well be one of my favourites of the year.

Tess (Georgina Campbell) is stunned when she arrives at an Airbnb to find someone already living there. The occupier is a man called Keith (Bill Skarsgård) who swears to Tess he had booked the place for himself. Unable to reach the property’s management, Tess reluctantly agrees to spend the night with Keith. She’s immediately suspicious of her host but as time goes on, she learns that he’s the least of her worries.

The Characters

Barbarian succeeds at what few horrors films do; subverting your expectations. Tess is a protagonist in a similar vein as Marion in the original Psycho. Not only is she our surrogate but she is the only character we can be certain of, we’re never supposed to question her motives.

The same cannot be said for the other characters, almost entirely due to the circumstances Tess encounters them in. Keith is the best example. We know Tess has every right to be fearful of him; he’s a complete stranger, he’s bigger and stronger than her, he makes a strong effort to not appear creepy or predatory, which only makes their conversion more uncomfortable.

I can’t go into spoilers of course but I’ll just say that Keith’s character is the most provocative of Barbarian’s cast. The paranoia and tension he generates is unique.

Out of the blue we’re introduced to a third principal character. A.J. (Justin Long) is a Hollywood actor who’s just been accused of sexual assault. Petrified of what the accusation will do to his reputation and finances, he travels to a property he owns in Detroit; the same Airbnb housing Tess and Keith.

We know A.J. as well as we know Tess but we don’t like him. He’s a wannabe alpha male with misogynistic behaviour and attitudes. Where his story goes and how it relates to Tess and Keith’s I can’t divulge. It’s quite brilliant though.

The Horror

Barbarian does fall prey to some of the cliches prevalent in recent horrors. For example, it uses jumpscares in places where I don’t they’re needed. Fortunately they’re not used as gratuitously as in films like It or Blair Witch but it makes Barbarian less than it could be I believe.

If you like gore in your horror film then Barbarian will not disappoint, however it may take you off guard. One issue I initially had with Barbarian, and I can understand others who had the same problem, is that it starts like an elegant tense thriller and ends like a gory mainstream horror. Looking at it as a whole I can see the little setups and understand what the film was going for but there’s no denying that Barbarian is a perplexing watch.

I will certainly consider the film for my Best of 2022 list and recommend it for all fans of horror. Even if you hate extreme gore or slow-moving suspense, the mix you get in Barbarian is worth seeing.

I give Barbarian a solid 8 out of 10.