Review: Strong performances highlight a dinner party gone wrong in thriller ‘Barbarians’

It’s no spoiler to say that writer-director Charles Dorfman’s debut function, “Barbarians,” is a home-invasion thriller, despite the fact that in the course of the image’s first 50 minutes, audiences primed for motion and horror might surprise in the event that they’ve stumbled into the improper film. Dorfman spends plenty of time establishing the story’s underlying tensions at a cocktail party that ultimately erupts into violence, proper earlier than three masked males barge into the home and begin tormenting the company.

Greater than something, “Barbarians” is a showcase for Tom Cullen, who provides a slyly comedian and correctly infuriating efficiency because the movie’s true villain. Cullen performs Lucas Hunt, a social media influencer and entrepreneur who when the film opens is using excessive: He’s courting a well-liked actress, Chloe (Inès Spirodinov); and due to the tragic dying of a rival, he’s simply closed a deal to develop the prime actual property round an historical stone monument within the British countryside.

Lucas plans to have fun his wins with two pals — profitable sculptor Eva (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and her aspiring filmmaker boyfriend, Adam (Iwon Rheon) — on the attractive home on his new property that he’s about to promote to them. However the night rapidly turns into awkward, because the incorrigible alpha male Lucas teases and pokes on the meeker Adam, making unreasonable calls for on him and Eva till Adam lastly breaks and spills some embarrassing secrets and techniques.

That’s when the interloping trio knocks on the door, with animal masks on their heads and malice in thoughts. It’s additionally no spoiler to say that the attackers didn’t select this home randomly however that they’re instantly concentrating on the folks inside. Within the movie’s second half, everybody’s motivations are revealed.

The massive drawback with “Barbarians” is that after the extra bloody and bruising a part of the story kicks in, all of the slow-building nervousness among the many 4 central characters quickly dissipates. Dorfman does a wonderful job of developing a dialogue- and performance-driven chamber piece; however he exhibits much less talent at staging struggle scenes and uncooked terror.

Nonetheless, though “Barbarians” doesn’t have a lot new so as to add to the home-invasion style or a lot new to say about wealthy bullies who make even their pals depressing, it actually connects for a very good, lengthy stretch in the beginning. All 4 of the primary actors — and particularly Cullen — excel at depicting the unusual energy dynamics at play when a person who seemingly has all the things begins asking for extra.