[Film Review] Barbarian (2022)

One of the most anticipated titles of the year was the UK premiere of Zach Creggers Barbarian.  The trailer released back in June was pretty vague – a young woman (Tess Marshall played by Georgina Campbell) – arrives at a house she has rented out on Airbnb only to find that the key has already been taken and a man named Keith (Bill Skarsgard) has already checked in. He invites her inside to escape from the rain, and over ominous music play clips of a terrified Georgina discovering hidden passages and appearing to have seen something horrifying – but what?

The mystery of what Barbarian’s plot would actually turn out to be was only made even more intriguing by the bag searches on entrance to the screen carried out by men dressed like agents of the Men In Black franchise, and the security warnings that phones were to be turned off as well as a strict instruction that all professional reviews were embargoed until Wednesday 7 September – two days before the film’s release.

This may be standard practice for Disney owned companies, or maybe it was at the directors request – either way, it’s for the best, because if you are going to see any film this year with as little prior knowledge as possible, make it this one!

When Tess arrives at her Airbnb in a run-down area of Detroit, it is pitch black and raining – she has no choice but to accept the invite of the awkward-yet-loveable stranger Keith. He fumbles around his words as he tries to make her feel comfortable, but like any young woman alone with a man she just met, she’s cautious. 

When she awakens in the night to find the door to her room open and a strange noise coming from the hallway - she is quick to investigate, and when she discovers a secret in the basement - her investigation takes her on a twisted journey.

Barbarian is going to be one of the most talked about films of the year, because you could never possibly guess what is to come. It is smart, funny, violent, disturbing and in parts genuinely scary. The performances from everyone involved are absolutely stellar, with one character in particular that will have your eyes roll so hard that you see your own horror-worshipping brain.

If you enjoyed 2021’s Malignant, for its strong female lead, its outlandish plot twists and its dark humour, get yourself to the cinema for this one!

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