Written and directed by The Lost Daughter producer Charles Dorfman, IFC Midnight's Barbarians is a home-invasion thriller set around a dinner party gone awry. Dorfman's directorial debut spotlights all the "barbaric" manners of its affluent guests and hosts, paving the way for the men's insecurities to ruin everything. At first, Barbarians seems like an interesting mashup between 2015's The Invitation and 2008's The Strangers.
However, what sets Barbarians apart from both those films is its focus on its leading character's toxic feelings about masculinity. We meet Adam (Iwan Rheon), a commercial director, as a man who has something to prove. He looks at the actions of his muscular groundskeeper who can kill a fox with his bare hands or the machismo of his towering and filthy rich friend Lucas (Tom Cullen) with envy. His wife Eva (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is frustrated with Adam's low self-worth -- and arguably in agreement with his assessment. When Lucas chides Adam on his inadequate manliness, things take a violent turn.
Lucas has spent years developing the land of a family farm into a property called Gateway. Eve has been creating sculptures for the property's layout and plans to buy the massive home from Lucas during their dinner party. As a setup for a thriller goes, Dorfman creates realistic stakes and clearly defined characters with relatable desires. What works best with this setup is seeing how the desires of Lucas, Adam, Eve, and Lucas' girlfriend Chloe (Inès Spiridonov) conflict. Scenes of cross-talk conversations keep the film going at an even pace with a tinge of dread at what's to come next for all. The way we hear flippant comments out of context too is a brave and interesting directing choice that really does mirror what awkward dinner conversation feels like between pairs of couples who don't really know each other well at all.
From the get-go, Dorfman spotlights Cullen's Lucas as a narcissistic and worldly type who seemingly has it all -- in a superficial way, of course. We also see the hesitation of Adam to do almost anything as well as the fear of what it does or doesn't say about him. Both actors shine in showing how hard (and harmful) it is to live up to the weight of hypermasculinity.
What works less effectively, however, is Dorfman's choice and motivation of the home invaders. While it does force Adam and Lucas to fight for their lives -- as well as Eve and Chloe -- and examine what this says about them, it feels unnecessary. The intricately building tension between Adam and Lucas' competing views and values of masculinity was interesting enough that the additional layer of assailants ends up feeling more distracting than meaningful. While it does give them both a stage to play out their white knight fantasies, it also ends up sidelining the women of this tight cast even more so, robbing the film of exploring Chloe and Eve's perspectives on Adam and Lucas' brawling natures.
Overall, Barbarians is still an interesting ride that will likely entertain those looking for a semi-predictable thriller. Instead of twists or turns, Barbarians leans into seeing how far it can take its idea of what it means to be a man of the house. While it doesn't settle on any particularly fruitful grounds, it has a slew of beautiful shots that capture the unspoken pressures between men and the frustration of their women partners. Expect more than a little violence and plenty of final act action to hit the screen, and you won't be disappointed.
IFC Midnight's Barbarians debuts in theaters and VOD on April 1.