At first, it seems that Barbarians is going to be one of those dramas about the fragile bonds of family and friendships, featuring four characters who are just prickly and human enough to have a lot of potential as interesting characters. At least in theory, that’s just what the two central couples of the film are (or, more accurately, one-and-a-half of them), and the small ensemble of performers are solid at building the interpersonal tension of these personalities at loggerheads with each other. Then, writer/director Charles Dorfman’s movie turns wildly into another, far inferior direction, just as we are becoming accustomed to the rhythms of the conversations that take up nearly all of the middle portion of the screenplay. To say it’s a disappointment would be to understate things.
The first couple we meet is Adam (Iwan Rheon), a director of commercials who is looking to fund his first narrative feature, and Eva (Catalina Sandino Moreno), a sculptor whose latest commission could provide that very funding, as well as a hefty nest egg for the two to move out of the hustle and bustle of London. The second couple are Lucas (Tom Cullen), a developer of both real estate and – as a result of his promotional materials and obvious good looks – a healthy social media following, and Chloe (Inès Spiridonov), who rather falls victim to the screenplay’s focus on the other characters here, especially Adam and Lucas. Eventually, a soap opera of the drama amongst this foursome develops that is a fairly decent attempt at ingratiating us to this dynamic.
Part of that is due to this quartet of performances; even Spiridonov, given the least amount to do by far of the group, presents a compassionate vision of an underdeveloped character. Rheon plays Adam as a bit of a wimp, which is made clearest in a prologue where he comes across a fox trapped by the prongs of a wired fence. The poor animal later mysteriously shows up directly in the middle of Adam and Eva’s kitchen – as an omen or a warning of what is to come – and the two must figure out how to get rid of it. Their answer, as well as a little white lie about it later, becomes a unique view into these two as a unit and separately, and Sandino Moreno is also quite good as a warm and independent presence to counteract her partner’s indecisiveness. Cullen is smarmily great as Lucas, a self-obsessed and constantly calculating man who stands opposite of Adam in every way.
Then, the shift occurs, and every ounce of good will that Dorfman and his cast had been able to muster dissipates with it. To be blunt, this foursome is taken hostage by a group of home invaders, who tie them up, torture them, and then give chase when they underestimate certain guests or dispatch them as unceremoniously as you might imagine. It’s a dynamic-enough sequence logistically, and the director doesn’t skimp on a little bit of the old ultraviolence. It is pretty empty, though, and more than a bit disappointing to simplify the concerns of the group dynamic by turning them into bodies in distress. Barbarians betrays its solid set-up by paying it off with empty, underwhelming chaos.
Photo courtesy of IFC Midnight
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