The “dinner party from hell” concept is a beautiful slice of heaven that helps create its own drama. Put the right kind of assholes at the same table and watch the chaos ensue. Adam Wingard did this perfectly in You’re Next, where a family who despises each other reunites. Their dinner is full of improvisational acting that eventually leads to a blood bath, both in a comedic and gruesome fashion. It’s classic fun, and I’ve watched it several times since its initial release.  Charles Dorfman’s BARBARIANS attempts to reach that discomforting level of eating at the same table with people you hate. It somewhat succeeds but is cut short by uninvited guests that neither our protagonists (if you want to call them that) nor the audience really care to see.

It’s the birthday of used-to-be hotshot director Adam (Iwan Rheon, HBO’s Game of Thrones), who clearly drowns in his career slump, googling himself and of the great accomplishments past. He loves his wife Eva (Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace) who is an artist herself. There are questionable artistic differences between the two as one can perceive the value of a commissioned project while seeing profit as going against integrity.

This comes out full force when they host a dinner for another couple, Lucas and Chloe. Lucas is a real estate developer who is capitalizing on the land Adam resides on for a hipster-oriented community, often filming live selfie videos in order to ironically connect with nature. Lucas is the dictionary version of machismo and it can be overwhelming, especially to Adam. Their history and secrets amongst themselves start to reveal when masked visitors show up with sinister intentions.

BARBARIANS feels like a blend of You’re Next and Straw Dogs, but never gets to what made those movies cult classics. The characters in those films got fleshed out even if it felt for minimal time, while in BARBARIANS, we never get a chance to care. We for sure hate Lucas and hope to see him get killed, but there’s a bit of neutrality when it comes to the rest. Moreno is a terrific actress (check out The Affair on Showtime) but is often underutilized. She’s subtle in everything, but is a rare actress where everything can be read in her eyes. She’s just as great here even if the material is underwhelming. She kills it in every scene, even if others are trying to actually kill her.

The home invasion aspect kicks in about halfway through but isn’t anywhere near as interesting as the first half. The characters might be hard to cheer for, but at least their conversation was entertaining. The horror sequences never feel thrilling and the killer reveal is nothing surprising. The motives are dry and already expected due to the way too obvious advertisement that opens the film.

The message in BARBARIANS is a bit blurred. Are we talking about toxic masculinity? Is it the narcissistic disease that is social media? Are we supposed to connect this to the American history of colonialism? The themes are all there, but not developed enough to really think about after the credits roll. BARBARIANS delivers a terrific cast, but it starts to go downhill once the bodies begin to pile up.

IFC Midnight’s BARBARIANS will be in theaters and On Demand on April 1, 2022.

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Jovy Skol

Jovy grew up loving all kinds of horror movies which is ironic because his parents hated them. CANDYMAN still scares the shit out of him and it doesn’t help that he lives in the Chicago suburbs. He loves venturing into lesser-known exploitation films of the 70s and being introduced to new movies. Along with movies, Jovy loves horror video-games and books, including comics. Some of his favorite franchises include SILENT HILL, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and the RESIDENT EVIL games.

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