“Barbarian” is a new horror movie about an Airbnb with nightmares you can’t even imagine

In case you haven’t heard of it, barbarian is a new horror film from writer/director Zach Cregger (whose background is primarily comedy) starring Georgina Campbell (black mirror, Broadchurch), Bill Skarsgard (It, castle rock) and Justin Long (Jeeper’s Creepers, Accepted).

And it has a really great poster, by the way:

So the film follows a woman named Tess (Campbell) who arrives late one night at her Airbnb on the outskirts of Detroit only to find that someone else has already occupied it. 🚩🚩🚩

And here is the setup. … The person already occupying Tess’ Airbnb is a man named Keith (Skarsgård). Given that Bill Skarsgård tends to be cast in scary/horror-related roles, *cough cough* Pennywise, it should come as no surprise that Keith injects uncomfortable vibes into both Tess and the audience.

Keith doesn’t help himself by being clumsy and doing kinda weird things like insisting Tess stay the night (all the hotels are booked because there’s a convention in town!) and then offering her drinks.

Tess, you know how most of us sane people would prefer to just go to bed (door locked) and hope this very awkward situation ends as soon as possible.

The funny thing is that Tess and Keith’s meeting plays out like a cute meeting, and if the music and vibe were a little different I’d say this was the start of a fun little rom-com… but trust me, it definitely isn’t.

Keith and Tess actually hit it off; she’s in town to apply for a job with a documentary filmmaker, and Keith turns out to be an expert on what the documentary will be about! (Sweet is not it?)

Tess survives the night (although some strange things happen), gives her interview, and when she returns to the Airbnb, Keith isn’t there. Despite all the rules of the horror movie, Tess eventually finds herself in the bloody creepy basement and discovers… a hidden door that leads to some terrifying discoveries that will have you saying, “No, no, no.”

After Tess’s terrifying discovery, it’s here barbarian takes an even more unexpected turn and somehow moves in Psycho move by going in a truly unexpected direction.

We are introduced to AJ (Justin Long), a D-list actor in Los Angeles who finds himself in hot water. And as it turns out, AJ actually owns the Airbnb of Horrors™ in Detroit.

With a lawsuit coming up, AJ needs to find cash fast, so he flies to Detroit to inspect and sell his investment property. And of course, AJ also gets caught up in the previous nightmare that Tess and Keith found themselves in before.

Well, I’m not going to spoil the rest of the movie for you because you really should just watch the movie to get the full effect. But I 100% guarantee you, you’ll never guess what’s happening, because it’s a whole load of unimaginable horrors.

While Campbell and Skarsgård deliver solid performances that are pretty good for a horror film, Long definitely steals the show here. To his credit, AJ’s performance is hilarious. Yes, AJ is a total jerk, but I found myself laughing at almost every ridiculous thing he did and said. There’s a certain scene with a tape measure that made the entire audience laugh out loud.

Oh, and you should also know that if you’re claustrophobic at all you’re probably going to hate half the movie, LOL. We’re sorry.

But for my money barbarian is an absolutely FUN, EXTREMELY wild ride that will keep you in suspense until the very end. If you’re a horror movie fan, you’ll get your money’s worth. With barbarianWriter-director Cregger is clearly able to strike that rare balance of terror, shock, and humor that makes this refreshing new horror film 100% watchable.

And I can’t stress enough that seeing it with an audience is an absolute must. 10/10 would recommend!