Good evening, House of Madness tenants:
Tonight I'm sharing my thoughts of one of my favourite movies of 2022, Barbarian. How many times have you listened to the hype, gone into a movie with sky high expectations, and when the credits rolled, you were more disappointed than a Detroit Lions fan at Thanksgiving? Last time I checked, my disappointment odometer was at 237 and counting, but Barbarian definitely wasn't one of them. Far, far from it. Is it a masterpiece? No, but it's a breath of fresh air you're allowed to breathe without wearing a mask. Some spoilers await, so read on if you're into that kind of thing.
Barbarian (written and directed by Zach Cregger) starts out simple enough; Tess (Georgina Campbell) books an Airbnb out of town in the slums of Detroit, because she has a job interview the next day, and the price is right. As she pulls up, it's getting late, it's pouring rain, and her surroundings are less than inviting. No problem, she has the code to unlock the key box on the front door, and she'll be safely behind a locked door in no time. First problem: the key isn't there. Second problem: the landlord isn't answering the phone. As she's growing more and more frustrated, she thinks she sees someone moving inside the house, so she knocks. A light pops on, and Tess is greeted by Keith (Bill Skarsgard), who says he's also rented the house, and shows her the documentation to prove he's not full of shit. Keith invites Tess to stay, and says they can sort it out in the morning. Tess initially declines, but once she takes a look again at her surroundings and situation, quickly agrees to his suggestion. They have some awkward conversation, and then realize they have a lot in common, and the evening goes swimmingly compared to what Tess thought might happen. She finally gives in to Keith's offer of staying in the bedroom, while he sleeps on the couch. Everything is perfect, until she wakes in the middle of the night, and her bedroom door is open. Keith is sound asleep on the couch, although he seems to be having a nightmare. Tess and Keith discuss her suspicions and concerns, but she is quickly satisfied with his response, as his candor and demeanor deem him harmless.
The next day, Tess crushes her interview, and heads back to the Airbnb in a much better mental state than the previous 24 hours. As she enters the house, there's absolutely no sign of Keith, so Tess begins searching for him. As she enters the basement, the door closes and locks behind her. Oops. Realizing she's stuck, she decides to search her surroundings, and explore the confines of her new temporary prison cell until Keith returns. She notices some rope dangling through a small hole in the wall and pulls it, revealing a secret passage behind a hidden door. She then discovers a room with a bed, bucket, and video camera inside (sounds like a backwoods Friday night!), and then heads back to check and see if Keith is back yet. He's just walking up the driveway, so she gets his attention through the basement window, and is temporarily rescued. Tess tells Keith about the horrors she's found in the basement, so he decides to go and check it out for himself while she waits upstairs. When he doesn't return in a satisfactory amount of time, Tess goes back downstairs (propping the door this time!), only to find that the room with the bed wasn't the only thing someone is keeping a secret, there is also a stairway leading down to something that can only be paralyzing. Is Keith what he seems to be, or has he tricked Tess into finding his lair where he plans to re-enact The Silence of the Lambs?
Cut to douchebag extraordinaire AJ (Justin Long), who gets a phone call in his overpriced sports car, telling him he's being fired from his current acting project, because his female co-star is accusing him of rape. How dare she accuse AJ of being anything less than the Don Juan and Robert de Niro he portrays himself to be! Truth be told, AJ quickly realizes that his situation is dire, and denying it to himself won't bring back the cash cows and agents that are abandoning him faster than a historian on the Titanic II. Assets. AJ needs to liquidate assets. Problem is, he doesn't have many because he lives the high life (literally and figuratively), so he has to scramble before his lawyers suck him dry of funds. Luckily he has that house in the slums of Detroit, right? AJ is saved!
As AJ enters his potential financial saviour, he realizes someone has been staying there that isn't supposed to be, as their belongings are there, and the place has a clearly 'lived-in' facade. As he enters the basement, he discovers the secret door as well as the hidden passage, and is unaware that all Hell is about to absolutely break loose, and money along with rape accusations are the least of his current and future worries. Son. Of. A. Bitch.......
Barbarian is still playing in select theatres, and is one of the best ways to help strengthen your mind for all that Christmas music you're about to endure.
Madness Meter: 7.9/10
NB
