324. Barbarian; movie review

 

BARBARIAN

Cert 18

99 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, gore, horror

"#Barbarian was SUCH a good movie!! I really had no clue what to predict, kept me veryyyyy invested!! Avoided trailers and spoilers so I guess that helped, too."

These are the words of a cinema enthusiast whose tastes I have grown to appreciate during the past 11 years of everyfilm.co.uk

The problem was that, as a consequence of his words, I was probably over-hyped for Barbarian.

In short, I thought it was very good but might well have been better if I had no expectations.

Nevertheless, I love the way the storyline twists so, as soon as the audience thinks they know what is coming, it moves in a completely different direction.

The increasing sense of foreboding is heightened by the different types of camera work - varying from hand-held to wider shots.

Zach Cregger's movie begins with a young woman (Georgina Campbell) arriving at an Air B'n'B in a rough district of Detroit only to find it already occupied by another traveller (Bill Skarsgård).

Eeriness builds up and early conclusions could be easily drawn.

However, the film jolts with a parallel story involving a disgraced Hollywood actor (Justin Long).

Barbarian is a rare beast - a horror combined with a smart script.

Sure, it isn't always easy to follow (we were rather bamboozled by one of the movie's key strands) but we enjoyed its sidesteps, demanding the viewer's attention at all times.

And, boy, does it make the audience jump.

Reasons to watch: High on suspense

Reasons to avoid: Bloody gore

Laughs: None

Jumps: Three

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? The film is set on 476 Barbary St. The year 476 was when the barbarians invaded Rome. 

The final word. Georgina Campbell: "It was just such a bizarre script and it kept getting stranger and stranger and stranger, and also funny. It had a very weird tone that, once I figured out that was the tone of it, I was just really into it." Indiewire

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