Barbarian (2022)

I didn't rush out to see Barbarian at first because the nature of the story was one I thought would push some of my buttons. But I kept hearing good things about it and 2022 has been an amazing year for horror films, this being highly recommended. Finally I decided I needed to see what all the fuss was about. 

The film turned out to be a lot different than I expected. It wasn't as disturbing as I had thought but it also wasn't narratively what I expected either. One of the film's strength is how its script continues to surprise you by not going where you think it's going to go. 

But Barbarian is not a perfect film either. Some of the script's weaknesses include not setting up well the motivations for why the characters do all they do. A film that requires characters to run toward danger instead of away from it need a really good excuse and Barbarian often falls down here. There are a number of times characters simply could have left and avoided the horrors.  Barbarian does try to establish that the police have abandoned this poor, and likely mostly non-white area of Detroit, but there are times when the characters could have simply left, and times when the police likely would have been motivated (by well, reasons) to so something. The film doesn't quite wrestle with this in a satisfactory way.

Also Barbarian falls into the horror-movie trap of having what should be normal human villains end up having almost supernatural ability to survive despite suffering what should be life threatening wounds. 

But the film does try to comment on the world. As I mentioned there is the commentary about policing in certain neighbourhoods, but also the film deconstructs the way men interact with women in heterosexual "conquests" which I think Barbarian actually has some interesting things to say about. However sometimes it feels like it is saying it all a little to directly to feel natural. 

As with any test of a good horror movie, is the film scary? Pretty much. Sometimes I think the catacombs under the small house where this film is centred are far too elaborate for reality (think Oscar's can) but they do create a terrifying world the film exploits effectively. Barbarian is both scary and interesting and while it might not have been as much of either as I had thought it still ended up being solid scary storytelling. 

Barbarian

Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Kate Bosworth, Richard Brake, James Butler, Matthew Patrick Davis

Writer/Director: Zach Cregger