Movie Review ‘Barbarian’: Horror Thriller Is Intelligent and Unforced

There’s a big ol’ twist not too far into Zach Cregger’s cleverly named and adroitly presented horror film Barbarian, the sort that publicists ask critics not to reveal, and that most viewers would probably prefer to experience on their own. Fair enough. Happily, there’s enough going on in the pre-twist part to give a sense of the whole, starting with that title. “Barbarian” is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person — not merely simple or rough, but nastily, even dangerously so. It calls to mind the uncouth and the unclean, and perhaps rightly so. But of course, there are many sorts of uncleanliness. As Jesus notes in Mark’s Gospel, “There is nothing outside of a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. . . . It is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come.” The film’s primary setting — a short-term vacation rental on Barbary Lane (oh ho ho!) in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood (itself pretty uncivilized, what with all the burned-out, rotting, abandoned homes) — winds up playing host to more than one candidate for the title’s referent.

One person it probably doesn’t refer to is Tess (Georgina Campbell), the young woman who arrives at the house just after we do, pulling up on a rainy night and rejecting a phone call before heading up the weedy walkway to the tiny porch. But once there, she discovers that her Airbnb has already been rented and occupied via HomeAway by big-eyed Keith (Bill Skarsgård). He’s understandably grumpy and befuddled, having just been dragged out of bed by a stranger at his door who doesn’t think he should be there, but he recovers himself enough to invite her in out of the rain while they get things sorted. Tess hesitates, and the viewer’s journey into anxiety begins. Can you trust him? He’s a man; of course not. Sure, he seems nice, but . . .

ML

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Matthew Lickona

Matthew Lickona is a writer and editor living in Southern California. From 2010 to 2019, he was a film critic for the San Diego Reader.

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There’s a big ol’ twist not too far into Zach Cregger’s cleverly named and adroitly presented horror film Barbarian, the sort that publicists ask critics not to reveal, and that most viewers would probably prefer to experience on their own. Fair enough. Happily, there’s enough going on in the pre-twist part to give a sense of the whole, starting with that title. “Barbarian” is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person — not merely simple or rough, but nastily, even dangerously so. It calls to mind the uncouth and the unclean, and perhaps rightly so. But of course, there are many sorts of uncleanliness. As Jesus notes in Mark’s Gospel, “There is nothing outside of a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. . . . It is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come.” The film’s primary setting — a short-term vacation rental on Barbary Lane (oh ho ho!) in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood (itself pretty uncivilized, what with all the burned-out, rotting, abandoned homes) — winds up playing host to more than one candidate for the title’s referent.

One person it probably doesn’t refer to is Tess (Georgina Campbell), the young woman who arrives at the house just after we do, pulling up on a rainy night and rejecting a phone call before heading up the weedy walkway to the tiny porch. But once there, she discovers that her Airbnb has already been rented and occupied via HomeAway by big-eyed Keith (Bill Skarsgård). He’s understandably grumpy and befuddled, having just been dragged out of bed by a stranger at his door who doesn’t think he should be there, but he recovers himself enough to invite her in out of the rain while they get things sorted. Tess hesitates, and the viewer’s journey into anxiety begins. Can you trust him? He’s a man; of course not. Sure, he seems nice, but . . .