Barbarian (2022) Review

“I’m a good person who just did a bad thing.”

The premise of Barbarian looked tantalizing in its marketing, unfortunately my impression is that it also gave away its entire plot. But with raving reviews I could not resist the intrigue. It was then I understood it was by design, a tactic used to lure audiences in only to subvert expectations. The very reason this film leaves me conflicted. It seems writer/director Zach Cregger who is making his directorial debut here, had an idea for three separate movies and couldn’t reconcile them into their own individual stories and opted to combine them instead. It almost comes together, but it ultimately feels like a disjointed experience.

Cregger tries to weave the me too era into his story, using the creature to serve as allegory to illustrate that sometimes the big bad monster isn’t the scary brute, its actually the barbarian that hides in plain sight as a charming smile who will ravage you when your guard is down. It’s the Grimm’s archetype at work here.

The biggest missed opportunity is that Cregger failed to make Frank, played chillingly by Richard Brake, as the main character to develop the other story elements he felt compelled to include.

While Frank may work best as a character shrouded in mystery, Cregger could have used this element to construct a story that didn’t help you put all the pieces together until its very end.

The film is saved by strong performances however, a hilarious Justin Long, a dubious Bill Skarsgard, a scene stealing Richard Brake and the breakout star carrying the film on her shoudlers was Georgina Campbell who finally gets the limelight she deserves.