Barbarian movie poster
Poster © 20th Century Studios. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
GenreHorror, Mystery & Thriller
RatedR
Runtime1 hr 42 mins
ReleasedSeptember 9, 2022
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorZach Cregger
StarringGeorgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long

Barbarian (2022)

movie.guru URL: https://movie.guru/barbarian-movie-review
Barbarian's Details
GenreHorror, Mystery & Thriller
RatedR
Released07/22/2022 (SDCC); 09/09/2022 (United States)
StreamingSee Where to Watch on this page.
Running Time1 hr 42 mins
Budget$4–4.5M (reported)
Box OfficeUpdated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Barbarian's Interests
GeneralDouble bookings, rainy nights, polite strangers, creaky basement stairs, flashlights with low battery.
MusicAnna Drubich. The score keeps humming long after you want it to stop.
MoviesWeapons (2025). Zach Cregger's next one, just as hard to predict.
TelevisionThe Whitest Kids U' Know. Before horror, Cregger did sketch comedy.
HeroesTess. The rare horror lead who actually reads the room.
Barbarian's Crew
DirectorZach Cregger
WritersZach Cregger
ProducersArnon Milchan, Roy Lee, Raphael Margules, J. D. Lifshitz
CinematographyZach Kuperstein
MusicAnna Drubich
Edited ByJoe Murphy
ProductionRegency Enterprises, Almost Never Films, Hammerstone Studios, BoulderLight Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment
Distributed By20th Century Studios
Barbarian's Trailer
Official Trailer • 20th Century Studios
How Barbarian Performed
movie guru's TLDR

A 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and a C+ CinemaScore tell you exactly how Barbarian lands: people either love the swerve or want their evening back. The first stretch runs on excruciating politeness. Georgina Campbell’s Tess shows up at a double-booked rental in the pouring rain, Bill Skarsgård’s Keith is so apologetic it’s suspicious, and every offer of tea feels like a trap. Then the movie takes a hard turn I won’t describe, and Justin Long arrives playing a guy so oblivious you’ll be talking to the screen. Long is hilarious. Campbell is the anchor, a horror heroine who actually asks good questions. The back half is shakier. It trades slow dread for weird, goofy swings and leaves a couple of threads dangling. Zach Cregger made this for a reported $4.5M, and it pulled in $46.2 million worldwide. A 7.4 because the first act is nearly perfect and the rest is a fun, messy gamble. $32.55 says you zoom in on every listing photo for your next rental, looking for a door to a basement.

What works: The opening is a masterful slow burn, Georgina Campbell is a smart lead, and Justin Long is very funny as a clueless newcomer.

What doesn’t: The second half swaps dread for oddball swings, and a few story threads are left hanging by the time the credits roll.

Who it’s for: Horror fans who love not knowing where a movie is going and don’t mind a big tonal swerve halfway through.

Spoilers

Keith doesn’t make it past the first night, and the thing living under the house turns out to be a creature called the Mother, tied to the home’s original owner. On a water tower in the finale, AJ tries to save himself at Tess’s expense, the Mother protects Tess instead, and Tess walks away alone at dawn.

Guru’s Take
7.4/10
Above Average
Barbarian's Blurbs
About me:

Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) pulls up late at night to a rental house in Detroit's Brightmoor neighborhood, in town for a job interview the next morning. It is pouring rain. The house has been double-booked, and a guy named Keith (Bill Skarsgård) is already inside. He seems nice. He seems very apologetic. He offers her the bedroom and takes the couch, and against her better judgment Tess decides to stay one night. The neighborhood looks rough. The house looks fine. The house also has a basement, and that is all you are getting from us. Zach Cregger directs. One hundred three minutes, cancel the booking.

Who I'd like to meet:

Anyone who reads the reviews before booking. Check the basement listing too.

Barbarian's Cast (in credits order)
Georgina CampbellTess
Bill SkarsgårdKeith
Justin LongAJ
Matthew Patrick Davisthe Mother
Richard BrakeFrank
Kurt BraunohlerDoug
Jaymes ButlerAndre
Sophie SörensenBonnie
J.R. EspositoJeff
Kate NicholsCatherine
Brooke DillmanAJ's mother
Will GreenbergRobert
Zach CreggerEverett
Kate BosworthMelissa
Sara Paxtonnursing video narration / assistant / Megan
Full cast and crew on IMDb.
Barbarian's Edit History
Every change to this page, newest first. Movie data updates are logged like any other edit.
  • (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.0 / 10 (277,260 votes) → 7.0 / 10 (277,443 votes).
  • (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +520 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $46.2M; Domestic box office $40.8M; Opening weekend $10.5M; Profit / loss (est.) +$16.7M; Rotten Tomatoes 92%; CinemaScore C+; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 92% (207 reviews); Metacritic 78 / 100; PostTrak audience 70% positive; CinemaScore C+; IMDb users 7.0 / 10 (277,260 votes); movie.guru score 6.5.
  • (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.