Barbarian ★★★★☆

January 20th, 2023

TW: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS HEAVY IMPLICATIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE ALONG WITH SOME GRAPHIC VIOLENCE. VIEWERS DISCRETION ADVISED.

Common Sense Media Age: 16+ Violence 5/5 Language 4/5

Sex/Nudity 4/5

My Age Recommendation: 16+ (Due to strong graphic violence throughout, disturbing imagery, pervasive language throughout, and brief themes of sexual assault and rape).

I was looking at a list of 'sleeper' horror movies that most people do not know about but turned out to be good, and this was the number one choice on that list. I read a few more of these articles and the same answer popped up each time time, Barbarian. So I decided to give this movie a shot and I am glad I did! The story follows Tess as she arrives at an Airbnb. She is greeted by another person who also rented the Airbnb and it turns out the owner accidentally booked two people for the same day. The other person in the Airbnb, Keith, seems awkward around her, but she is invited in to spend one night while they sort this out. The next day, Tess gets locked in the basement while exploring the house and finds a hidden room which leads a strange room that suggests disturbing events happened in this house. When Keith comes to find her, he gets sucked into the depths of the house too. Meanwhile, an actor named AJ is being accused of rape, and he owns the house that the people are trapped in. Desperate to sell it to fund his lawyers, he goes into the house and also gets trapped in the bowls of the house. Will either of them make it out alive, or will the secrets of the house be the end of them all? Let me say, this movie was amazing. The story had an 'edge-of-your-seat' feel and the mystery of what was lurking in the house made it scarier! I loved the character development, as it really helped sell some of the shocking moments in the movie. The plot was not rushed, and the incorporation of two different storylines worked well and added to the disturbing part of the movie. Overall, this was an amazing movie that will leave you thinking by the end!