Bulgaria / USA. 102 minutes
Director/writer: Zach Cregger
Photography: Zach Kuperstein
Music: Anna Drubich, Ronettes
Editor: Joe Murphy
Cast: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgard, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Jaymes Butler, Kate Nichols
(spoilers) Since at least 2013 and Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Detroit’s amazing deterioration in areas such as Brightmoor has been there to be used as a powerful visual element for anyone willing to venture into them. Capitalism isn’t doing anything about it and whole blocks are going all the way back to nature, with barest hints of the decrepit decaying houses where people used to live. Barbarian makes good use of the wreckage. Tess (Georgina Campbell) arrives at night to her Airbnb destination in a pouring rainstorm and never gets a good look at the neighborhood until next morning, when it is almost as shocking for us as it is for her. The camera takes its time swiveling and panning and showing us everything it can see.
Tess is in Detroit for a job interview with a documentary filmmaker but already she’s in over her head by the whims of fate. The house at 476 Barbary has been double-booked and the other renter is already in there with the key. It’s an Airbnb nightmare. A large convention in town makes available hotel rooms scarce. The guy already there, Keith (Bill Skarsgard), doesn’t seem threatening, but you never know. Director and writer Zach Cregger reportedly based a lot of Keith and other males in Barbarian on a book by security specialist Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear, which details warning signals of dangerous men. If alarm bells are going off for Tess—and they are—they are going off for us as well through all the uncomfortable conversations that lead to Tess agreeing to stay there overnight. We won’t learn it for a while, but Keith is the least of her worries.
(spoilers) Since at least 2013 and Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Detroit’s amazing deterioration in areas such as Brightmoor has been there to be used as a powerful visual element for anyone willing to venture into them. Capitalism isn’t doing anything about it and whole blocks are going all the way back to nature, with barest hints of the decrepit decaying houses where people used to live. Barbarian makes good use of the wreckage. Tess (Georgina Campbell) arrives at night to her Airbnb destination in a pouring rainstorm and never gets a good look at the neighborhood until next morning, when it is almost as shocking for us as it is for her. The camera takes its time swiveling and panning and showing us everything it can see.
Tess is in Detroit for a job interview with a documentary filmmaker but already she’s in over her head by the whims of fate. The house at 476 Barbary has been double-booked and the other renter is already in there with the key. It’s an Airbnb nightmare. A large convention in town makes available hotel rooms scarce. The guy already there, Keith (Bill Skarsgard), doesn’t seem threatening, but you never know. Director and writer Zach Cregger reportedly based a lot of Keith and other males in Barbarian on a book by security specialist Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear, which details warning signals of dangerous men. If alarm bells are going off for Tess—and they are—they are going off for us as well through all the uncomfortable conversations that lead to Tess agreeing to stay there overnight. We won’t learn it for a while, but Keith is the least of her worries.
The house itself seems mostly harmless. It’s the basement that is the problem, an enormously vast space with many unsettling points of interest. Hidden doors. Multiple levels. Secret passageways in narrow corridors. Stone staircases. A room equipped with: a bed with stained mattress, a bucket, and a camera mounted on a tripod. Tess discovers all this the next day, after she has returned from her interview (which went well!) and then accidentally locked herself in the basement and started looking for a way out.
Keith returns, gets her out of the basement, goes down to investigate, and disappears. It is the last we see or hear of him. The subtitles report cries for help from him but I’m not even sure I really heard them. At about this point the movie abruptly cuts to California and AJ (Justin Long), a wannabe Hollywood hotshot on the rise whose career is suddenly threatened with allegations of sexual misconduct. The movie is playing with us now—our heads are still back in that basement with Tess. The connection is eventually revealed—AJ is the owner of the house at 476 Barbary. And he may need to sell it to raise money for his legal expenses.
Let’s pause a second on that address. Though Cregger has denied any such intentions it’s a historical fact that the so-called barbarians—Germans, in this case—entered Rome and deposed its emperor in 476. Also, consider, anyone living on Barbary could fairly be called a “Barbarian.” Last but not least, as pointed out recently by a friendly commenter, “barbarian” and “Airbnb” share a suspicious number of letters. “Barbarian” just has extra A’s and R’s.
AJ is a good (and much needed) comic element. He thinks nothing of the dungeon trappings, the bucket and the camera, and when he discovers the depths and dimensions of the basement his first move is to search the internet for whether he can declare it as square footage to pump up the value of the house. Which is in Brightmoor, remember. He’s obviously tetched if he thinks he’s going to get much money for the house—but he’s obviously tetched. Long (Jeepers Creepers, Galaxy Quest) delivers it, carrying all his solo scenes well.
You’re way ahead of me I’m sure—right, there’s a monster down there. It’s hard to describe and best experienced directly. I’ve said elsewhere that Barbarian should be seen knowing as little as possible about its twists and surprises or even its basic plotlines. Yet here I am talking all about it, even with fair warning at the top, but that’s because I’m assuming people want to read reviews, like I usually do, after seeing a movie, while it is still fresh. In those cases, being coy about spoilers is not as useful. But I still want to leave this monster alone—played in dim light by Matthew Patrick Davis, it’s shocking, primal, horrific, disgusting, and full of pathos all at once. It’s the best I can do. It is happy to challenge all kinds of things we think we know.
As with any picture working the visceral effects so assiduously, Barbarian is less scary the second time around. I was going out of my mind the first time, but a second look enabled me to slow down some and take in how Cregger and company are doing it. There are some things you just have to accept—it doesn’t take long for anyone to find the hidden doors and secret passageways in the basement, for example. You have to pull on a rope coming from a hole in the wall. I’m really not sure I would ever think to even try that. But certainly I think you should. It’s right there. Pull on it. Take the ride.
Top 20 of 2022
1. Barbarian
2. Emily the Criminal
3. Elvis
4. Tar
5. Triangle of Sadness
6. The Quiet Girl
7. Speak No Evil
8. Funny Pages
9. Top Gun: Maverick
10. RRR
11. The Banshees of Inisherin
12. Cha Cha Real Smooth
13. Everything Everywhere All at Once
14. The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft
15. Stutz
16. The Northman
17. Watcher
18. Fresh
19. Sanctuary
20. Girl in the Picture
Other write-ups: Avatar: The Way of Water; The Batman; Captain Ahab: The Story of Dave Stieb; Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind; Lynch/Oz; Master Gardener; M3GAN; The People You’re Paying to Be in Shorts; Pinocchio ‘22; Rewind & Play; The Scott Peterson Affair; Showing Up; Talk to Me; Women Talking
Keith returns, gets her out of the basement, goes down to investigate, and disappears. It is the last we see or hear of him. The subtitles report cries for help from him but I’m not even sure I really heard them. At about this point the movie abruptly cuts to California and AJ (Justin Long), a wannabe Hollywood hotshot on the rise whose career is suddenly threatened with allegations of sexual misconduct. The movie is playing with us now—our heads are still back in that basement with Tess. The connection is eventually revealed—AJ is the owner of the house at 476 Barbary. And he may need to sell it to raise money for his legal expenses.
Let’s pause a second on that address. Though Cregger has denied any such intentions it’s a historical fact that the so-called barbarians—Germans, in this case—entered Rome and deposed its emperor in 476. Also, consider, anyone living on Barbary could fairly be called a “Barbarian.” Last but not least, as pointed out recently by a friendly commenter, “barbarian” and “Airbnb” share a suspicious number of letters. “Barbarian” just has extra A’s and R’s.
AJ is a good (and much needed) comic element. He thinks nothing of the dungeon trappings, the bucket and the camera, and when he discovers the depths and dimensions of the basement his first move is to search the internet for whether he can declare it as square footage to pump up the value of the house. Which is in Brightmoor, remember. He’s obviously tetched if he thinks he’s going to get much money for the house—but he’s obviously tetched. Long (Jeepers Creepers, Galaxy Quest) delivers it, carrying all his solo scenes well.
You’re way ahead of me I’m sure—right, there’s a monster down there. It’s hard to describe and best experienced directly. I’ve said elsewhere that Barbarian should be seen knowing as little as possible about its twists and surprises or even its basic plotlines. Yet here I am talking all about it, even with fair warning at the top, but that’s because I’m assuming people want to read reviews, like I usually do, after seeing a movie, while it is still fresh. In those cases, being coy about spoilers is not as useful. But I still want to leave this monster alone—played in dim light by Matthew Patrick Davis, it’s shocking, primal, horrific, disgusting, and full of pathos all at once. It’s the best I can do. It is happy to challenge all kinds of things we think we know.
As with any picture working the visceral effects so assiduously, Barbarian is less scary the second time around. I was going out of my mind the first time, but a second look enabled me to slow down some and take in how Cregger and company are doing it. There are some things you just have to accept—it doesn’t take long for anyone to find the hidden doors and secret passageways in the basement, for example. You have to pull on a rope coming from a hole in the wall. I’m really not sure I would ever think to even try that. But certainly I think you should. It’s right there. Pull on it. Take the ride.
Top 20 of 2022
1. Barbarian
2. Emily the Criminal
3. Elvis
4. Tar
5. Triangle of Sadness
6. The Quiet Girl
7. Speak No Evil
8. Funny Pages
9. Top Gun: Maverick
10. RRR
11. The Banshees of Inisherin
12. Cha Cha Real Smooth
13. Everything Everywhere All at Once
14. The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft
15. Stutz
16. The Northman
17. Watcher
18. Fresh
19. Sanctuary
20. Girl in the Picture
Other write-ups: Avatar: The Way of Water; The Batman; Captain Ahab: The Story of Dave Stieb; Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind; Lynch/Oz; Master Gardener; M3GAN; The People You’re Paying to Be in Shorts; Pinocchio ‘22; Rewind & Play; The Scott Peterson Affair; Showing Up; Talk to Me; Women Talking
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