Barbarian (2022) Revisit: Cregger's Disturbing Debut from the Basement Below
Copyright © 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises, Almost Never Films, Hammerstone Studios, BoulderLight Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment
Title: Barbarian
Director: Zach Cregger
Release Date: September 9, 2022
This fictional news website, Maybrook News, suggests that this movie and the upcoming movie, Weapons, take place in the same universe. Zach Cregger has directed this movie, so he is making a comeback this year. His history all started with Barbarian, the critically acclaimed horror movie about a scary basement. Against a super cheap budget of $4-4.5 million, it made a commercial success of $45.4 million from the box office. As a result, critics and audiences were positive about it, thanks to the story and acting performances. To push it even further, the movie gained awards, especially for the Best Horror Feature (PCAA), Best Horror Film (PCC), and Best Horror Movie (CCSA). As a debut that only required $4 million, Barbarian is an underground prison that will deliver a scarily amazing time.
This fictional news website, Maybrook News, suggests that this movie and the upcoming movie, Weapons, take place in the same universe. Zach Cregger has directed this movie, so he is making a comeback this year. His history all started with Barbarian, the critically acclaimed horror movie about a scary basement. Against a super cheap budget of $4-4.5 million, it made a commercial success of $45.4 million from the box office. As a result, critics and audiences were positive about it, thanks to the story and acting performances. To push it even further, the movie gained awards, especially for the Best Horror Feature (PCAA), Best Horror Film (PCC), and Best Horror Movie (CCSA). As a debut that only required $4 million, Barbarian is an underground prison that will deliver a scarily amazing time.
Summary
"A young woman discovers the rental home she booked is already occupied by a stranger. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the night but soon discovers there's a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest." - Google
"A young woman discovers the rental home she booked is already occupied by a stranger. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the night but soon discovers there's a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest." - Google
Reasons
Barbarian nails it with the unpredictable story, social themes, and strong acting performances. First of all, it's just an Airbnb rental from some random stranger, but it turns out to be more than that, and that is an interesting concept. In the beginning, it has the slice-of-life moments until the middle of the movie, where it starts to get scary. Albeit it is a simple plot about an Airbnb rental, it never gets predictable because it twists some horror tropes around. Then, the movie reveals what it wants to say. When you watch it for the first time, the movie is pure entertainment. However, you see the underlying themes when you give the plot another look. This movie explores themes like abuse, trauma, and toxic masculinity to make its story actually meaningful. Moving on, the other thing to talk about is the great acting. Georgina Campbell did an intense portrayal as Tess, the renter, for making the fear and intelligence in her character. The other actors, like Bill Skarsgård as Keith and Justin Long as AJ, also did superb as the ambiguous side characters who enter the Airbnb house.
More good things to find in Barbarian are the well-done scares, eerie setting, and smart humor. The movie is a mix of both supernatural and psychological horror. To make the basement scary, it has an abandoned room filled with a few items, and it goes deep down the stairs until you see the villain. As more people get involved, it reveals more about what the villain has been doing all along, which is where the psychological horror kicks in. Next up, the setting is just an ordinary place that the writers retooled to be disturbing. It takes place in a neighborhood in Detroit. Well, it looks more like an isolated and destroyed neighborhood in Detroit. The final thing is the punchy humor. This movie is mainly gritty, but it doesn't stray away from a few jokes here and there. Most of the jokes are stupid enough to balance out the creepiness.
It looks like Barbarian is an amazing film, but the only flaw to point out is the plot holes. They have to do with the characters' survival of the basement and the backstory of the house. At the very least, they are just subtle enough for viewers to not notice them.
Conclusion
Even as a $4 million directorial debut, Barbarian is an underground prison with an interesting story and meaningful social themes. The movie took an ordinary concept and made it into an unsettling one. At first watch, it may be just entertainment, but what the movie means to tell are real problems from society. Let's give Zach Cregger props on Weapons this August. For the time being, definitely check this one out. You won't even regret any second from a scary movie about Airbnb.
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