A run-of-the-mill home invasion holding few surprises
Most home invasion movies are poorly made and most of them are pretty bad. While David Fincher’s Panic Room was one of the better movies of this kind, we have also had to put up with such cinematic misfires as Breaking In, The Owners, and No Good Deed.
The film is set in the fictional town of Barbarians, and follows the story of a group of people who are struggling to survive in a hostile environment. However, some may find the movie to be unenlightening or even boring. Is it worth your time? Or should you avoid watching it altogether?
The film starts promisingly, with a strong performance from the cast. However, the film quickly becomes forgettable and lacklustre.
Adam’s birthday is celebrated with friends at his house. Lucas and Chloe are there, as well as Iwan Rheon’s character Adam and Catalina Sandino Moreno’s character Eve. The party is meant to be a happy occasion, but things start to go wrong when Eve starts drinking heavily. The group starts arguing and eventually things get physical. ..
As the party heats up, so does the tension between the two but just as things start to get interesting for both them and the viewer, the home invaders arrive.
Adam’s run-in with the injured fox sets the tone for what was to come when he and his girlfriend, Sarah, were home alone. They heard a knock at the door and when they answered it, they found three men inside their home. The men demanded money and drugs from them, but Sarah was able to fight back and call the police. ..
A fox is found stuck in barbed wire near a party in an Adam’s house. It’s not clear how the fox got there, but it’s possible that one of the people at the party put it there. ..
Adam is seen as cowardly when he watches the animal suffer, but he must put it out of its misery if he wants to stay friends with his friends.
The film is about the power dynamics between men and their partners. It’s not about Adam and Lucas, it’s about the other men in their lives. If the film had focused on them, their respective partners, and their respective lies and secrets, it could have been a lot more interesting.
Unfortunately, the home invaders turn up to ruin the evening and ruin the film for the viewer too. After their arrival, the film becomes yet another home invasion thriller in which violence and mayhem take precedence.
The masked men who turn up at Adam’s door are the same people who show up to his house in the beginning of the film. Their motives are clear from the start, and while the filmmaker may have wanted us to sympathize with them, the fact that they are as unlikable as the partying friends means that you won’t likely care who lives or dies by the film’s end. I know I certainly didn’t.
The film seems to be trying to answer the question of what causes men to commit violence, but it never quite comes together as a cohesive whole.
The film is not a total waste of time but it’s nowhere near as good or as pointed as it could have been. With a tighter script, it could have honed deeper into man’s capacity for violence but ultimately, it only scratches the surface. ..
Iwan Rheon is an actor with a lot of talent, but he has not found much success in the movie world. His latest film, Barbarians, was a disappointment and he may need to try again if he wants to make it big in Hollywood. ..
