Review: Barbarian

Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios.

 

There has been an abundance of uncommonly smart, unsettling and gripping horror movies this year - the highlights include "The Black Phone," "X" and "Watcher" - and director Zach Cregger joins that creepy crowd with his structurally interesting, occasionally socially relevant and often quite eerie "Barbarian."

Set in Detroit - and making great use of that city's vacant, decrepit and forgotten neighborhoods, much like 2015's "It Follows" did - the film settles into an uneasy vibe from the get-go. Tess (Georgina Campbell) is a researcher in town for a job interview with a documentary filmmaker who is making a movie about the burgeoning music scene in Detroit. 

Tess has some bad vibes about the Airbnb she books - it's an unusually charming little home in the middle of a street that looks like it never quite revived after an air raid. But rather than listen to her own good judgment - although Tess' character is likable, especially as the film goes on, she was written to continuously make bad decisions - she decides to stay the night.

She is surprised to find that the Airbnb already has a tenant - a seemingly too-accommodating man named Keith (Bill Skarsgard) who just happens to be involved in the music scene that the woman with whom Tess is interviewing is documenting. Although something seems slightly off about Keith - and the film does a great job of toying with what we believe to be the threat - Tess is warmed by his chivalrous nature, and they strike up a quick friendship.

But upon returning to the Airbnb the next day after her interview, Tess makes a terrifying discovery - a basement that includes a room with a stained bed, video camera, a bucket and bloody handprint on the wall. When Keith returns, Tess attempts to flee, but he insists on checking out the scene himself. Tess returns to the basement after Keith has been gone awhile, and discovers something even more terrifying.

And then we cut to Justin Long's intentionally obnoxious AJ flying down the coast of California in his convertible and getting a call about some bad news - the actor's pilot is being cancelled and the lead actress in it is accusing him of raping her. AJ realizes that his funds are dwindling - he apparently really needed that pilot - and the money he'll have to spend on lawyers will bankrupt him.

He heads to Detroit to take a look at some rental properties he has there so that he can sell them. You'll never guess where one of those properties is located. Once AJ has searched around the Airbnb, made the same shocking discovery in the tunnels under the basement and found himself in, well, a predicament, the film cuts again.

This time, it's to the early 1980s, where we see a creepy older man drop by a store and pick up some items for his wife, who will soon home-deliver a baby. But instead of going home, the man spots a young woman in a parking lot and follows her home, gaining entry under the pretense that he is an electrician checking her house after outages in the area.

Needless to say, all of these stories will come full circle - though the third one is developed just so much to allow it to remain mysterious. It's difficult to discuss much more about "Barbarian" without giving away its secrets, but suffice it to say that Cregger does a great job of ratcheting up the suspense before its bloody finale.

The film could also be described as a #metoo horror movie, from the early scenes in which Tess weighs whether she feels comfortable staying in the Airbnb with Keith - whom she asserts would be able to just stroll in unconcerned if the situation were reversed - to the accusations against AJ, and the dawning realization he has that he might not be such a great guy. There's even a scene in which Tess - who has momentarily escaped from the basement's horrors - tries to convince some uncaring male cops about her situation, and due to her unkempt appearance they don't believe her or seemingly just don't care.

"Barbarian" might get a little over the top in its final scenes - and rather gory too - but it's the sign of a filmmaker showing confidence in his first shot at a studio-backed feature film. The picture might be filled with characters making dumb decisions but - like a handful of other impressive horror movies this year - it's a lot smarter than your average horror movie fare.