Skip to main content

Barbarian (2022)

 




Barbarian is about a woman staying at an AirBnB and discovers that there is more to the house she has rented than what was expected.

Written and Directed by Zach Cregger, Barbarian is the third film behind Miss March and The Civil War on Drugs. Both were forgettable and both were before Cregger knew really how to direct. This change is night and day, almost like how Ben Affleck made the switch over from doing Gili in 2003 to The Town in 2010. The writing is just shy of great. A great horror film will keep you wondering just how things will end. There certainly were moments I was wondering just how Cregger would end this film. There are some predictable scenes and certain directorial choices make you believe for a second that something else is happening entirely. There is one scene of exposition I despised and didn't help the storyline at all except pander to audiences that aren't intelligent.

Georgina Campbell plays Tess, the main character. She is expressive and carries the film. She's vulnerable and smart. There are scenes where she does the logical choice unlike many 70s and 80s horror. I had never seen her before in anything but she's probably best known for Black Mirror since most people don't have apple tv and have seen the show Suspicion. 


Bill Skarsgard plays a character who at first you're not sure if you should trust and then later down the line you definitely find out if you were right or wrong. There's a great line in the film where he says "Do I look like a monster?" where I smiled at that thought since he played Pennywise in Steven King's It. I enjoyed his performance for what he did.

Justin Long's character wasn't relatable but every adult audience member could quickly recognize where Cregger was going with this character. He made choices that were suitable for his character and the audience will really want to root against his character's survival. This isn't Long's first horror rodeo as he was in his breakout role for Jeepers Creepers, (some might say Galaxy Quest but I disagree) Tusk, and Idiocracy. Yes, I consider that a horror film. Just look at how scary that film was.

I started with a grade higher than where it settled. I tend to rate horror movies higher at first glance and then upon longer inspection, they go lower for my grading. It started at a low A- and now I'm settled on a B+.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hamnet (2025)

Hamnet (2025) is directed by Chloé Zhao , known for Nomadland and The Rider , and produced by Steven Spielberg , whose legacy includes Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan . Zhao’s quiet, human-centered style blends unexpectedly well with Spielberg’s sweeping emotional sensibilities. The result is a film that is intimate yet cinematic, grounded yet overwhelming in its emotional impact. It is easy to see why many are calling it a frontrunner. The writing, pacing, and visual storytelling come together with remarkable precision. Jessie Buckley , known for I'm Thinking of Ending Things and Women Talking , delivers the best performance of her career. She is raw, expressive, and heartbreakingly human. Every scene she’s in is layered with emotion, and she elevates the material far beyond what even great writing could accomplish. Her portrayal is the emotional anchor of the film. Paul Mescal , known for Aftersun and  Gladiator II , is equally powerful. While his performance in G...
Post a Comment
Read more

Madame Web (2024)

  Madame Web  is an adaptation of a comic book character. The movie is very loosely based on a Spider-Man heroine but lacks everything that made the comic book character acceptable.  The director S.J. Clarkson is probably best known for having her unaired pilot rejected by HBO for the Game of Thrones prequel. She was coached directing through many TV shows only being given one episode for many of the projects she worked on.  Matt Sazama  and Burk Sharpless  are known for horrible to barely okay movies: Morbius, Gods of Egypt, Power Rangers, the failed reboot of Lost in Space,  and The Last Witch Hunter.  Madame Web was okay for five minutes before I burst out laughing from the cringe. There are logical inconsistencies, boring dialogue, and a lack of meaningful character development. "Am I on the right train?" should become a meme. Dakota Johnson 's delivery of many lines was so bad that they had to be dubbed in and conveniently had the shot chang...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bugonia (2025)

  Bugonia is Yorgos Lanthimos ' fifth film that I've seen. This time it's about a woman abducted by two conspiratorial men who think she's an alien from the galaxy of Andromeda. Lanthimos  had a wild ride with Poor Things and The Lobster . While Kinds of Kindness and The Favourite were more tame, Bugonia  is a wild ride from beginning to end and is so tightly written and directed that there are no scenes that are out of place or unintentional. Perhaps it's the screenplay done by the writer of The Menu  which I still need to see. Perhaps it was source material done by Jang Joon-hwan  who hasn't really done much in America, though looking at the movie Save the Green Planet!  it doesn't appear to be so. While the direction and writing is superb the film wouldn't be anything without the amazing performance of the postered woman, Emma Stone. This isn't her first time working with Lanthimos  either, but it's easily my favorite performance of hers. She ...
Post a Comment
Read more