BARBARIAN (2022) - a.k.a. Don't Go In The Basement, Part 734

 Barbarian is a film that in horror circles, was making waves and selling tickets - both of which are a big deal for a genre pic.  I was just as excited to see this one as the next guy, but I'm not much for heading to the theater just yet so I waited patiently and it finally arrived on HBO Max.   I hadn't seen anything but a teaser trailer, which is what I prefer with these "surprise hit" type of movies.  

After viewing, I realized it was nothing like what I thought it was going to be, and while that is not a bad thing, it was a little off-putting.

Tess (an excellent Georgina Campbell) rents an Air B&B while she is in Detroit for a job interview.  Arriving well after dark and in the pouring rain, she finds that the key is missing from the secure box on the porch.  After voicing her concerns to both herself and to an unhelpful voice message at the rental company, she heads back to her car with the intent to leave when she sees a light come on in the house. 

Returning to the door, it soon opens and Keith (Bill Skarsgard) is standing there explaining that he too, rented the house for the same time as Tess.  At once we are confused and scared for Tess.  Even more so when she does the unthinkable-- goes inside.  Worse yet, after some conversation -- including Keith mentioning how bad the neighborhood is, if she didn't notice -- she makes the monumental mistake of saying she will go ahead and stay also.  Of course I am screaming in disbelief at this, because what woman would believe things like "there's a convention in town and there won't be any rooms available"?  It's Detroit! And seriously - it seems strange that a small rental in a bad section of Detroit would be double booked by accident?  [Side note:  yet another film showcasing derelict Detroit.  Can't we ever give this city a break? So many films highlight the wasteland that it had become (It Follows, Only Lovers Left Alive, Don't Breathe, and now Barbarian...I'm sure there are more!) that it is pretty depressing.  Okay, I digress...]  

Once Tess and Keith establish barriers -- she'll take the bedroom, he'll take the couch --  they eventually are sharing some wine and conversing about similar interests.  All the while I'm wondering what implement of destruction Keith will use when he maims and tortures her later on.

But wait!  It doesn't quite happen that way! Through the night when Tess is sleeping, her bedroom door opens and wakes her.  She hears Keith out on the couch in the grips of an obvious nightmare.  So has someone else been in the house?  Is someone STILL in the house? 

What Barbarian does is set you up.  They trick you into thinking this is just one of those movies where a woman ends up fighting for her life from a serial killer or the likes.  But this film is so much more than that.  It has an immediate sense of dread from the time Tess arrives at the house to the moment she heads into the basement....which I will not elaborate on lest I spoil anything.  Suffice it to say that things do not go well from that moment on.  

While it is exceedingly difficult to think of Bill Skarsgard as anyone but Pennywise, he does a great job here of making you unsure if he is a good guy or the villain.  Georgina Campbell is exceptional in her role as Tess.  Her uncertainty while trying to decide what to do upon meeting Keith is precisely the same feeling any woman alone would have upon arriving at an unfamiliar city and finding the rental already occupied.  Whereas I would have turned around and left and kept driving until I found the nearest Motel 6, Tess does take a chance on Keith - which is pretty unrealistic but necessary to the plot. 

The basement.  What can I say about the basement?  Nothing without giving away plot details.  So you will have to watch this one to delve further.  And hey! I didn't even mention Justin Long or his role as a disgraced actor.  I can't think of a way to tell you anything about his presence without spoilers - but he does have a big role here and his acting is on point! 

I will say there are a few flashback scenes in which we see the house in question in more lucrative times in the city.  I am not sure these scenes were necessary to the story to be honest.  I think the less told the better, and I would have been fine without the obligatory "here's why things are the way they are" plot point. 

But other than that, I feel Barbarian is a film that will be remembered for its uniqueness and its relevancy to the times.  Who hasn't been hesitant about a rental property?  Particularly if they have a creepy basement, right?  (This is why I rent a beach house every year on a barrier island - where it is NOT possible to have a basement.)  

Barbarian is a horror film in two acts.  And those two acts are as different as night and day.  I was buffaloed into believing I had things figured out.  And what a delicious surprise to find out I hadn't!

~Christine Hadden