Tess (Georgina Campbell) arrives at her Airbnb in a run down suburb of Chicago to find that it is already occupied by Keith (Bill Skarsgard). The apparent double booking puts her in a difficult position as a medical conference in the city means no other accommodation is available. Keith offers to share the home chivalrously giving her the bedroom and sleeping on the couch. Of course nothing is quite as it seems. 

Barbarian is an exceptional horror film that uses existing horror tropes as misdirection and constantly keeps you on your toes. To say more about the plot would be ruining the fun so for my first half of this review I will be keeping that under wraps. So let’s talk about what sets this film apart aside from its plot. 

The acting performances are fantastic with three stand out leads in separate chapters of the story. Georgina Campbell plays a capable ‘final girl’ who always tries to do the right thing. Including taking the mostly sensible option when it comes to mysterious and ominous places. Justin Long and Richard Brake on the other hand nail the tone of their respective characters which again I would rather not talk about. 

The tone is a perfect mix of ratcheting up the horror tension and releasing it via well pitched comic moments. Anyone who is claustrophobic will be doubly tense during some of the horror scenes. Whilst the horror is a mixture of gritty realism and out there gory moments. 

And to cap it all the look and style of the film is wonderful. The lighting and colour scheme are the main things to call out with some exceptional dark scenes and a colourful diversion at the midpoint. 

Highly recommended. 

Read on past the picture for some more spoiler loaded thoughts…

I have not done this before with a review so I hope that you have watched the film before reading on. 

I really loved the three act structure here. The juxtaposition of a woman wanting to do the right thing and taking realistic precautions against the possibility of a man taking advantage against a narcissistic film actor whose immediate response is to take a decision in his favour at all times. Including one that clearly is him taking advantage of his position of power over a woman. The moment where he seems to have an epiphany about his behaviour that is instantly destroyed by a choice moments later is hilarious. Whilst the flashback segment has a really ominous sense of realistic evil set against a colourful world compared to the horror film monster in the dark scenes of the present day. 

Barbarian seems to be a horror film that manages everything. Zach Cregger’s debut film puts him on the increasingly long list of exciting horror directors right now.