Barbarian | Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long

[Maximus One]

Seemed pretty clear that the film was about the ripple effects of abuse and male entitlement. Who are the real "monsters" in the film?

Yea, supposedly Zach Cregger started writing this right after reading a book about red flags and originally it was gonna be about a chick encountering like each one or something like that.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Im finishing up watching it and...it ok?

Needed more backstory and I didn't understand did the thing have superhuman strength? Was the moral of the story just watch out for yourself? Guys suck?

 

[Prison Mike]

All the inbreeding must have led to superhuman strength?

 

[Prison Mike]

Spoiler

it was nice seeing Bill Skarsgard play a nice guy. The tension in the first half of the movie where you don’t know if he’s a good guy or bad guy was great

 

[Da-Scribe]

Im finishing up watching it and...it ok?

Needed more backstory and I didn't understand did the thing have superhuman strength? Was the moral of the story just watch out for yourself? Guys suck?

The moral here is to book your hotel way in advance.

I liked it. Not quite sure if it was intentionally being cheesy but when the homeless guy says the mother would never attack his house followed by the next scene, it made me laugh.

I also really loved the “boop” moment.

 

[kguillou]

I had a real problem with them never explaining

Spoiler: Spoiler

why she and Bill Skarsgard got double booked at this place. Were they intentionally lured there by someone? Who? Why? Justin Long’s agent had no record of any bookings so whats up with that?

 

[The Shape]

I had a real problem with them never explaining

Spoiler: Spoiler

why she and Bill Skarsgard got double booked at this place. Were they intentionally lured there by someone? Who? Why? Justin Long’s agent had no record of any bookings so whats up with that?

Spoiler

Seemed like it was an honest mix up and they were double booked by two different sites, which is something that could easily happen.

By the time Justin Long entered the film, a couple of weeks have passed. His booking agent lady says they haven't rented out in a couple of weeks. I don't think "The Captor" would have the means to arrange this and lure them there.

As far as we can tell, Tess and Keith were just very unlucky.

 

[The Shape]

I'm glad I was able to watch this without knowing anything about the story, and I also mostly missed the hype. I only heard that people thought it was pretty good.

I assumed

Spoiler

the whole movie was going to be about Keith being the bad guy, and he was just putting on an act at first... so that twist was a nice surprise. Which is also kind of sad I guess, since he actually was a nice guy

Spoiler

Nice guys finish last.

 

[Closerframe]

I had a real problem with them never explaining

Spoiler: Spoiler

why she and Bill Skarsgard got double booked at this place. Were they intentionally lured there by someone? Who? Why? Justin Long’s agent had no record of any bookings so whats up with that?

Spoiler

I took it as a greedy real estate agent who didn’t do her due diligence by double checking the listing on two separate websites but clearly still pocketed the money and played dumb when she got caught by Long’s character.

 

[kguillou]

Ok you guys actually gave me a satisfactory answer so thanks for that. But another thing

Spoiler: Spoiler

the whole job interview thing..was there a point to that as well? And her entire character building dialogue with Skarsgard…idk it just all seemed like superfluous aspects of the movie. I mean i guess it was just character building which is fine but i feel like a good script wouldve tied these elements in eventually.

 

[Stringer]

Ok you guys actually gave me a satisfactory answer so thanks for that. But another thing

Spoiler: Spoiler

the whole job interview thing..was there a point to that as well? And her entire character building dialogue with Skarsgard…idk it just all seemed like superfluous aspects of the movie. I mean i guess it was just character building which is fine but i feel like a good script wouldve tied these elements in eventually.

It's a flaw in the movie that I can't overlook despite enjoying it. It's not one of those films that has depth on rewatches. Lots of plot holes and red herrings that leave more questions that can't be answered.

 

[Closerframe]

It's a flaw in the movie that I can't overlook despite enjoying it. It's not one of those films that has depth on rewatches. Lots of plot holes and red herrings that leave more questions that can't be answered.

I listened to a podcast (The Evolution of Horror) with the director and he mentions writing the script as he went along without knowing where the story would go. That would explain some of the seemingly half backed ideas, but I took the job interview as an extended way of telling the main woman that the neighborhood she’s staying in is rough. I didn’t find it particularly useful, but I can see why they included it—especially if it’s supposed to further establish her trust in Skarsgard‘s character with him leaving the key behind for her.

 

[Da-Scribe]

Ok you guys actually gave me a satisfactory answer so thanks for that. But another thing

Spoiler: Spoiler

the whole job interview thing..was there a point to that as well? And her entire character building dialogue with Skarsgard…idk it just all seemed like superfluous aspects of the movie. I mean i guess it was just character building which is fine but i feel like a good script wouldve tied these elements in eventually.

My thoughts:

Spoiler

I think those scenes are meant serve the film thematically rather than narratively. I feel like a major theme of the film is that there’s no blueprint for what a safe guy looks like. And Tess is failed by every prominent male character in the film because each of those guys operates with varying levels of entitlement. Sure, Keith is a nice guy. But he also doesn’t listen to Tess (making her tea when said no, insisting on where she sleep, going into that damn basement). So I felt all that dialogue with him was meant to explore that theme. Keith is nice in the ways he wants to be, but not always in the ways Tess actually needs him to be.

And so then we see the interaction with Bonnie and I think that further hammers home the theme. That this other woman is genuinely trying to look out for Tess. And I think you could argue there’s a racial component at play as well, for why this white woman doesn’t maybe work a little harder to help a black woman that she clearly thinks is in actual danger.

But overall, Tess is far more let down by the men in this film than the women. That includes The Mother who is very much a victim of the one man in her life. So that’s how I read those seemingly superfluous moments. As just a sort of commentary on the lack of safety and support women, and BIPOC women in particular experience.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Luigi]

 

[Kane52630]

It's so Carpenter inspired.

 

[3rdstone]

It's so Carpenter inspired.

Never a bad inspiration.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Just watched this. Crazy movie in a really good way. Good performances and a suitably creepy 'bad guy.'

The director certainly has talent. 7.5/10

 

[scarlet-witch]

I used to love The Whitest Kids U'Know when they were on Fuse/IFC. Glad Cregger is thriving with this. I enjoyed it, and I stand by "can secret room be included in square footage when selling home" being one of the funniest scenes I've seen all year.

 

[Slick]

Ok I finally watched this and I thought it was enjoyable but definitely over hyped and I watched without being spoiled too so idk just ok but just that.

 

[Sawyer]