Dir. Zach Cregger (2022)
A woman who has rented an Airbnb for a job interview discovers that there's someone already staying in her rental.
CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Holy fuck, this movie is wiiiiiild. Let me stop you before you read any further: I am going to do my absolute best to avoid any spoilers, but this is a movie that you want to go into blind. I'm not one to turn away site visitors, but if you haven't seen this movie, I would highly recommend giving it a watch before reading any further if you want to get the best experience possible. If I haven't scared you away yet, here are my thoughts on one of the craziest movies I've seen in a long time.
Barbarian is not a story that you haven't heard before, at least not on the surface. Tess (Georgina Campbell) rents an Airbnb in a terrible area of Detroit because she is interviewing for a job the next day, but once she arrives she finds that someone else has rented it through a different website for the same night. Keith (Bill Skarsgard) is scoping out the area in the hopes that it may be worth buying for his music collective, and he's awkward and bizarre enough that it takes him a bit to convince Tess that he's not going to ruin her night. Unfortunately, the night is ruined anyway when Tess discovers a secret passage in the basement that leads... well, to some undesirable shit.
Barbarian is balls-to-the-wall insanity after a terrifying slow-burn beginning, and it deals with everything from abductions to #MeToo social commentary. It's a fascinating story that is expertly made, delivering some fantastic gore as well as enough twists and turns to make any Shyamalan fan in heaven (except this one is a really good movie.) Campbell, Skarsgard, and Justin Long (who comes along later) are fantastic in the film, and it also features yet another terrifying role by Richard Brake (31, 3 From Hell). Not everyone is going to be able to sit through this one, and there have been reports about people running from the theaters well before the closing credits. Normally, I think that's all marketing hogwash, but in this particular case? I believe it.
I will say that I hesitated to give it an "extreme" tag, because it's not one of those films that usually fits that category. There is some fantastic gore throughout the movie, but it's really the concept itself that is going to blow your mind. Fantastic film from start to finish and with the most harrowing scores I've heard since Insidious, this one is going to get under your skin and set up camp for a little while. 100% recommended, you need to see this one before someone tells you what happens.
Who this movie is for: Horror fans of all stripes, Preferably adult horror fans, No seriously, put the kids to bed first
Bottom line: Batshit doesn't begin to describe this movie, but it is a wild ride and is a fantastic movie to watch when you go in completely blind. I literally didn't even know what the little picture from the Twitter hashtag was going in and never even saw a trailer for the film, and I can definitely say that if you have it spoiled for you, it won't be anywhere near as enjoyable. That being said, I definitely want to rewatch it immediately, so this one is going to hold up really well for the future.
