Barbarian Review: The Endless Twists In This Airbnb Horror Film Are A Central Part Of Its Funhouse Charm
Directed by Jack Krieger. Cast: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long. 18, 107 minutes
Every opportunity in life is a real risk. And for women, every risk is a potential risk. This is the suspense that the horror film The Barbarian masterfully exploits before turning into a chaotic monster movie that constantly turns the tables on its audience's expectations.
Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) arrives in Detroit for an interview, but she meets a man - Keith Bell Skarsgård - who has already been staying at an Airbnb she's rented for the week. The property is, somewhat suspiciously, the only intact house among the many deserted parts of the city, an indication of its industrial decline. Once she finds herself at a disadvantage, Tess discovers that even the green flags are starting to show as red. Why does Keith insist on opening a welcome bottle of wine for her when she has already refused a glass? Isn't it a strange coincidence that he saw a low-budget documentary about the woman Tess was interviewing? "There are a lot of bad guys," she told him honestly. What makes him think that he has the right to say that? There are some smart actors here: Skarsgård is a charismatic performer, but if you didn't already believe him for playing the most famous Pennywise Clown in this remake, you wouldn't believe him because he looks like Tim Burton's Claymation. . Image comes to life.
I will refrain from giving further details. The many twists and turns of " Barbara " are the core of its charm. First-time director Jack Krieger, a member of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids You Know, masters the sense of place in this film: the camera hovers above the stairs; He slips down the corridor as if drawn by some unspoken fate; He looks around the corner and prepares to be shocked.
As a filmmaker, Krieger seems to know how to take audience expectations and then subvert them, borrowing from certain genres before moving aggressively into something more realistic. The cops here don't act like the cops in the movies. The fear of aging the female body — prevalent in horror films and inevitably associated with misogyny — isn't as simple as you might think. Tess may not always make the right decisions, but she's smart when she needs to be. Campbell manages the shifting tone of The Barbarian well, leaving room for humor without going full horror comedy.
At one point, Zipper Creepers star Justin Long played AJ Gilbride, a sitcom actor accused of sexual assault. What the film wants with him is surprising and smarter than what we assume. In all this chaos, the barbarian comes to an important conclusion: woman must always pay for man's cruelty.
The Barbarian hits theaters on October 28
