Barbarian  ★★★½

THE 2022 independent American horror film Barbarian has been a sleeper hit thanks mainly to a nice U-turn that occurs about half-way.

Zach Greggor wrote the film which is also his solo directorial debut. So far it’s made more than $50 million in cinemas, from a budget less than one-tenth of that amount.

The first half of the film is more of a dark drama interested in the male-female relationship dynamic.

Georgina Campbell plays Tess arrives at home she has rented to find the key is missing from the lock box outside. It’s pouring with rain and she can’t get hold of the owners so retreats to her car.

Suddenly she sees a light inside and heads back to find it has accidentally been double-booked to a guy named Keith (Bill Skarsgård) who says and does all the right things but still looks on the creepy, untrustworthy side.

They agree to share the place but, just when Tess is starting to let her guard down, something happens and we are off on a new tangent.

Don’t let anyone tell you what happens from here. There are some nice set-ups to horrific moments, good sound effects and the acting is fine.

Unfortunately the final act doesn’t deliver as well as the preceding events, but it’s still well worth the journey.