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Barbarian is an American horror film directed and written by Zach Creeger. It was released on September 9, 2022.
Synopsis[]
In town for a job interview, a young woman arrives at her Airbnb late at night only to find that her rental has been mistakenly double-booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to stay the night anyway, but soon discovers that there is much more to be afraid of in the house than the other house guest.
Plot[]
Tess Marshall arrives in Detroit for a job interview. Booking a rental home in a remote, rundown neighborhood to stay at overnight, Tess is surprised to find the property is already occupied by a young man called Keith who rented the property through a different app. With a storm raging outside and no hotel vacancies, Tess finds herself with no option but to spend the night in the house with Keith. Initially unnerved by Keith's awkward behavior, Tess eventually warms up to him. That night, Tess notices her bedroom door has been opened and hears someone moving around the house.
The next day, Tess awakens to find that Keith has left. She attends her job interview and returns to the rental where she is chased inside by a homeless man who demands she leaves the house. Tess seeks shelter in the basement and accidentally locks herself inside. Tess searches for a way out and stumbles across a hidden door in the basement, leading to a secret corridor. In the corridor, Tess find evidence that someone was held captive and filmed and flees, being freed from the basement by Keith. When she tells Keith, he ventures down to the basement to investigate. When he doesn't return, Tess goes back down after him and discovers another subterranean tunnel leading further under the house. Following Keith's screams, Tess finds him claiming that there is someone in the tunnel and they bit him. As Tess panics, a deformed female creature suddenly attacks the pair and kills Keith.
Two weeks later, sitcom actor AJ learns he is being accused of rape by a co-star and is fired from his show. Facing pressure to sell his assets to pay for his legal costs, AJ travels to one of his rental properties in Detroit to look into selling it which is revealed to be the house where Tess and Keith staying. He finds their belongings still in the house but no sign of them. AJ gets drunk with a friend at the bar and returns to the rental where he angrily tries to find Tess and Keith, believing they are squatting illegally. Inspecting the basement, he discovers the hidden door and tunnel. Believing he can use the extra square feet to increase the price of the house, AJ ventures into the tunnels with a tape measure and starts measuring the area. He stumbles across a room containing a video about breastfeeding newborn children before being chased by the creature. Fleeing, he falls into a pit and is found by a still alive Tess.
Tess explains that the creature (referred to as "The Mother") wants them to act as her children. The Mother forces Tess to drink milk from a bottle and tends to her. When AJ refuses, it drags him away to the TV room and forces him to breastfeed. Tess takes the opportunity to flee the basement and narrowly manages to escape the house with the help of Andre, the homeless man she was chased by earlier. Andre warns her to leave the neighborhood before it gets dark and The Mother goes out hunting for her and berates her for wanting to go back and save AJ. Tess wanders the neighborhood and finds two police officers who refuse to believe her story or enter the house.
A flashback shows how the house's original owner Frank abducted young women and held them captive in the tunnels, raping them and raising children.
AJ attempts to escape and finds a room The Mother is seemingly scared of. Inside he finds a vegetative Frank as well as dozens of tapes showing him raping women. AJ unintentionally gives Frank access to a gun which Frank commits suicide with. Taking the gun, AJ ventures back into the tunnels. Night falls and The Mother leaves the house ready to hunt down Tess. Tess runs the creature over with her car, pinning it to the house and seemingly killing it. Tess returns to the basement to find AJ only to be non fatally shot by him. AJ and Tess escape the house and find The Mother has freed herself from the car. Andre finds the pair and they take shelter with him at his hideout. Andre explains Frank's crimes and how The Mother is a product of decades of incest.
The Mother ambushes the group and kills Andre before chasing Tess and AJ up a water tower. With no way to escape, AJ decides to push Tess off the tower to distract the mother. As Tess falls, The Mother jumps off after her, saving Tess and seemingly killing herself. As AJ attempts to apologize to a gravely wounded Tess and shoot The Mother, The Mother reawakens and brutally murders AJ. She attempts to bring Tess back to the house and nurse her; Tess shoots her in the head with AJ's gun. A triumphant and traumatized Tess walks away from the street.
Cast[]
- Georgina Campbell as Tess Marshall
- Bill Skarsgård as Keith Toshko
- Justin Long as AJ Gilbride
- Matthew Patrick Davis as The Mother
- Richard Brake as Frank
- Kurt Braunohler as Doug
- Jaymes Butler as Andre
- J.R. Esposito as Jeff
- Kate Bosworth as Melisa
- Sophie Sörensen as Bonnie Zane
Videos[]
