Barbarian is a tricky movie to review because you really owe it to yourself to know as little as possible going in. As such, the top third of this review will discuss nothing beyond what is seen in the trailer and include a recommendation that you go see it—Barbarian is a terrifyingly fun film to see with an audience and one of the most-messed-up mainstream movies I’ve seen in years—while the bottom two-thirds will get into the weeds a bit further. I will break the sections up with an image or two.
You are forewarned.
The trailer posits a fairly simple setup: Tess (Georgina Campbell) shows up to an Airbnb and finds that the owner’s rental company has also lent it to Keith (Bill Skarsgård). The two navigate the complicated and inherently fraught situation with awkwardness: Does...