Barbarian: A Prelude Review to Weapons.

Months ago, advertisements for Zach Cregger’s latest movie Weapons began dropping, and I quickly became obsessed.
The trailers did a perfect job of intriguing me, without telling me too much.
So, with the film releasing in a week’s time, I decided that the perfect way to prepare myself was to finally sit down and watch Cregger’s first horror film, Barbarian.
I had heard of Barbarian when it first released, along with the praise the movie was getting, but I had never watched it before.
After having seen it, I can say that it is a fun movie, which got me even more excited for Weapons. 

The movie follows Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell), a woman who books an Airbnb, only to discover a man named Keith (Bill Skarsgård) has been booked in at the same time.
Forced to share a home with him, Tess quickly becomes suspicious, not only of Keith but of the secrets the house may be hiding.
The first half of the movie does a great job building tension, as the audience are left to wonder if Keith is the threat Tess faces or something else. 
This tension builds up masterfully to reveal of the Mother (Matthew Patrick Davis), a giant, naked, inbred woman, who brutally murders Keith and takes Tess hostage, wanting the woman to be her baby.
I had heard of this reveal before watching the movie, but I can still imagine how shocking it must have been for many going into this movie blind, expecting Keith to be the bad guy, only for it to turn out to be an incest monster.

Speaking of bad guys, it is after Tess’ capture that we meet A.J (Justin Long), an actor who is exactly the kind of guy Tess was worried Keith would turn out to be.
Fleeing to the Airbnb to escape allegations of sexual assault, A.J quickly finds himself drawn into the same horror Tess is facing, albeit in a much more comedic way.
This makes sense given Cregger’s history as a comedian, making him similar to other directors who went from comedy to horror, like Jordan Peele.
The second half of Barbarian is much campier than the first, but it is thankfully the fun kind of campy, as both Tess and A.J are relentlessly pursued by the Mother.

Escaping to a water tower, A.J attempts to sacrifice Tess to save himself, only for the Mother to rescue her in a moment that I unfortunately found to be unintentionally comedic.
Really, though, that is my only big criticism of the film.
Otherwise, it’s a lot of fun, especially the ending.
Seeing A.J get his eyes gouged out by the Mother was great karma, and I ended up actually feeling sorry for the Mother at the end.
She never asked to be born a monster.
In the end, all she wanted was a baby to love and care for, and Tess had to kill her to save herself.
It honestly is a credit to Zach Cregger that he made me feel sorry for the giant, naked, incest monster.

In the end, Barbarian definitely got me more excited for Weapons.
It has an intense first half, a fun and campy second, and a surprisingly sad ending.
I have already booked a ticket to see Weapons the day it releases, and I hope it lives up to expectations.