Since there were so many movies that came out this year, I couldn’t pick the next scary movie to watch. My husband picked Barbarian for me. I didn’t know a lot about the movie so I agreed to watch it.

Tess (Georgina Campbell) has booked an AirBNB in a small neighborhood in Detroit. When she arrives at the house, she finds a man named Keith (Bill Skarsgård) already staying there. After finding out there is nowhere else nearby to stay, they decide to share the house for the night. The next day, after her job interview and while Keith is out of the house, Tess finds a secret door in the basement that leads to an underground maze of tunnels. Two weeks later, sitcom actor AJ Gilbride (Justin Long) has lost his job due to a rape allegation. He comes back to his house in Detroit to get ready to sell it. Even though he finds luggage and toiletries in the house, the property manager insists that no one has rented the house in a few weeks. Shrugging it off, he goes into the basement where he also finds the secret door. Excited that he could list that as more space in the house, he explores further.

Barbarian is a little all over the place. There are three separate storylines that all come together. Tess and Keith’s story takes place two weeks before AJ’s storyline starts and then there’s a man named Frank (Richard Brake) has a story that starts in the 1980s and ends when AJ finds him. It is a little jarring when they switch to another storyline. The transition between the three isn’t done very well so it takes some time before you realize what is going on.

With that said, I did like the horror aspect of the movie. The “monster” isn’t a new idea in horror movies. It has been done before. However, there is a bit of a twist that makes it slightly different. I think that twist is just enough to make Barbarian interesting. Take the time to watch it. Even if you hate it, it will give you pause the next time you book an AirBNB.