BARBARIAN
****
Director: Zach Cregger
Screenplay: Zach Cregger
Principal cast:
Georgina Campbell
Bill Skarsgård
Justin Long
Matthew Patrick Davis
Richard Brake
Jaymes Butler
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 102 mins.
Australian release date: 20 October 2022.
Here’s a hypothetical for you: If you were a single young woman and you pulled up outside a pre-booked Airbnb in a horribly rundown area of a city you’d never been to before on ‘a dark and stormy night’ and a male stranger opened the door, saying he’d booked the house too, would you go in? How you answer may indicate whether or not you’ll take to Barbarian, a horror film written and directed by Zach Cregger. He came to something of a realisation after reading a self-help book called The Gift of Fear, which informed readers how to use their instincts to avoid dangerous situations. “There was a chapter in the book that was really primarily directed towards women and [the author] was encouraging women to pay attention to these little minor red flags that men can give off in day-to-day situations,” he says. “I had this epiphany that I don’t ever have to think about that kind of a thing. I don’t have to consider that half the population might be somebody that means to do me harm for no reason. I just realized I occupy a completely different psychic landscape than most women do.” Accordingly, he set out to write a screenplay that included as many of those warning flags as he could think of and the result is Barbarian.
Tess (English actress Georgina Campbell) pulls up outside the house in the Detroit suburbs in the pouring rain and punches in the code to the key’s safe-keeping box, only to find it empty. When she rings the letting agency’s phone number, there’s only a recorded message. As she runs back to her car, a light in the house goes on and sleepy-eyed Keith (Bill Skarsgård, Pennywise the clown in the It movies) answers the door; he seems nice enough but almost immediately those little red flags start waving. After an attempt to book alternative accommodation without success (there’s a big convention in town), Keith convinces Tess that she’ll be safe to stay. Hmm.
Barbarian has been a great success at the North American box office, taking in around US$40 million from a budget of just four million, an excellent return for its investors, and the reason it’s done so well is that it is genuinely scary. It goes to unexpected places - for example, half-way through the movie makes a significant plot-turn, introducing an entirely new character, AJ (Justin Long) - and, for the most part, the script keeps you guessing. Granted, it gets a bit clichéd towards the denouement but, by then, it’s got its teeth into you. Georgina Campbell is terrific in the leading role, making her Tess thoroughly believable, even though you spend a lot of time quietly screaming at her, “Don’t go down there” or “Don’t open that door!” (There are lots of doors opening and closing, none of them leading anywhere good.) Skarsgård keeps us guessing, too, skilfully walking the fine line between nice guy and creep and Justin Long also plays an opaque, good guy/bad guy character. Overall, if you’re a horror film fan, Barbarian will scratch your itch, but if you’re the type who wouldn’t enter a double-booked Airbnb, don’t go there.
Screenplay: Zach Cregger
Principal cast:
Georgina Campbell
Bill Skarsgård
Justin Long
Matthew Patrick Davis
Richard Brake
Jaymes Butler
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 102 mins.
Australian release date: 20 October 2022.
Here’s a hypothetical for you: If you were a single young woman and you pulled up outside a pre-booked Airbnb in a horribly rundown area of a city you’d never been to before on ‘a dark and stormy night’ and a male stranger opened the door, saying he’d booked the house too, would you go in? How you answer may indicate whether or not you’ll take to Barbarian, a horror film written and directed by Zach Cregger. He came to something of a realisation after reading a self-help book called The Gift of Fear, which informed readers how to use their instincts to avoid dangerous situations. “There was a chapter in the book that was really primarily directed towards women and [the author] was encouraging women to pay attention to these little minor red flags that men can give off in day-to-day situations,” he says. “I had this epiphany that I don’t ever have to think about that kind of a thing. I don’t have to consider that half the population might be somebody that means to do me harm for no reason. I just realized I occupy a completely different psychic landscape than most women do.” Accordingly, he set out to write a screenplay that included as many of those warning flags as he could think of and the result is Barbarian.
Tess (English actress Georgina Campbell) pulls up outside the house in the Detroit suburbs in the pouring rain and punches in the code to the key’s safe-keeping box, only to find it empty. When she rings the letting agency’s phone number, there’s only a recorded message. As she runs back to her car, a light in the house goes on and sleepy-eyed Keith (Bill Skarsgård, Pennywise the clown in the It movies) answers the door; he seems nice enough but almost immediately those little red flags start waving. After an attempt to book alternative accommodation without success (there’s a big convention in town), Keith convinces Tess that she’ll be safe to stay. Hmm.
Barbarian has been a great success at the North American box office, taking in around US$40 million from a budget of just four million, an excellent return for its investors, and the reason it’s done so well is that it is genuinely scary. It goes to unexpected places - for example, half-way through the movie makes a significant plot-turn, introducing an entirely new character, AJ (Justin Long) - and, for the most part, the script keeps you guessing. Granted, it gets a bit clichéd towards the denouement but, by then, it’s got its teeth into you. Georgina Campbell is terrific in the leading role, making her Tess thoroughly believable, even though you spend a lot of time quietly screaming at her, “Don’t go down there” or “Don’t open that door!” (There are lots of doors opening and closing, none of them leading anywhere good.) Skarsgård keeps us guessing, too, skilfully walking the fine line between nice guy and creep and Justin Long also plays an opaque, good guy/bad guy character. Overall, if you’re a horror film fan, Barbarian will scratch your itch, but if you’re the type who wouldn’t enter a double-booked Airbnb, don’t go there.