Reel Kill Review: Barbarian (2022) 

Runtime: 102 min

Rating: 6/10 🎬 

Commentary: Not quite a killer... but it drew blood. 

Welcome to another Reel Kill Review! Today we're diving into Barbarian, the 2022 horror film was widely praised as "genre-bending". While the film takes several big swings, they didn't land in my book.

The Setup: The movie opens with a simple but eerie scenario -- a woman arrives at a double-booked Airbnb and meets a stranger named Keith. Right away, we're anticipating something sinister, but those early suspicions are quickly dismissed. And that's where the story begins to unravel. 

The Mother & The Mayhem: The film pivots hard into unpredictable territory by introducing a character called The Mother. She is a grotesque and tragic figure that raises far more questions than the film is ready to answer. Who is she? Why is she here? How long has this been going on? 

Some answers are teased -- but they are thin, rushed, and delivered through a narrative that attempts to shift but ends up disconnecting rather than deepen the mystery. 

Bold Choices, Uneven Payoff: To its credit, Barbarian isn't afraid to break out of genre norms. It jumps timelines, shifts protagonists, and blends horror subgenres between creature and psychological at times. While those risks are admirable, they come at the cost of pacing and cohesion. It often feels like two wildly different films stitched together -- and not seamlessly. 

The Final Kill: Barbarian is entertaining, surprising, and at times unsettling. But for all its ambition, it left me underwhelmed. The atmosphere and core concepts had promise but the execution fell far short of greatness.