Barbarian Review: The pleasant surprise of the year for horror fans   

Get ready for a disruptive cinematic experience

Tess travels to Detroit, United States for a job interview. When she arrives at the Airbnb she rented late at night, she finds that the house has been double rented and an unknown man is already living in it. “Why don’t you go inside and call these idiots,” he tells her. Tess, although hesitant, decides to enter the house. A few hours later she will discover that she has much more to fear than the mysterious guy who lives with her.

Written and directed by Zach Cregger and starring Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård and Justin Long, Barbarian premiered on July 22, 2022 at San Diego Comic-Con. For those who don’t know, the convention in question is one of the first and largest conventions, meaning its connection to pop culture is deeply rooted.

In fact, in the early 2000s, its popularity skyrocketed, with major production studios eyeing it to find the next big hit. The Barbarian, then, began its journey from a Comic-Con that his name was intertwined for years with alternative and pioneering proposals of new creators in the field of cinema.

One might say that this is precisely what Cregger’s film itself is. An alternative and -almost- pioneering proposal for this year. What is certain is that his directorial debut on the big screen has already received positive reviews from both audiences and critics. There is something about the way it is built that makes it stand out. That “something” missing from conventional horror films.

Obviously, the text is also spoiler-free, we will nevertheless try to examine in a little more detail the mechanisms that managed to present this result on our screens. First, there are the performances. Campbell, Skarsgård and Long are completely convincing in their roles, delivering an enjoyable performance, while the dynamic between them constantly changes, thus lending an extra realism to the scenes. Then there’s the atmosphere.

This menacing and mysterious atmosphere, which, however, works for a long time deceptively, while setting the right tone for the film. The sound, like the music, play an important role in the combination of suspense, anxiety and terror, thus enhancing the experience. But the all-powerful tool that makes Barbarian stand out is the special form of storytelling. The director is certainly aimed at the general public, but he winks at the fans of horror cinema, constantly playing with their expectations, the style, but also the conventions of the genre.

Indeed, the tension, the mystery, but also the general feeling of insecurity that the protagonist experiences in the first part, is sure to cause some of you to have rapid heartbeats. Of course, it would be good to mention that the film is for patient viewers. This does not mean that the pace of events is slow or, as it is commonly called, slow-burning.

On the contrary. She simply handles her secrets intelligently, without rushing, thus gradually building the tension, which of course takes off in the finale. Clever, extremely claustrophobic, dark, violent, without getting particularly bloody, with unpredictable black humor at intervals, Barbarian is capable of offering you a distinct horror experience. It’s one of those movies where the less information you have about it, the more you’ll enjoy the secrets of its plot. It would not be an exaggeration if it is considered by some to be the small, pleasant surprise of the year for the genre.