Film Preview: Barbarian (2022)

Film Poster

Page Revisions:

(July 3, 2022) Original
(December 25, 2022) New Trailer (#2) — New Posters (#2-#5)

Release Date:

August 31, 2022

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “In town for a job interview, a young woman arrives at her Airbnb late at night only to find that her rental has been mistakenly double-booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to stay the night anyway, but soon discovers that there is much more to be afraid of in the house than the other house guest.”

Poster Rating: C+ / B- / C / C+ / C

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Review: (#1) While the central image faintly reminds of 1980s horror features, the overburdensome red background is almost blinding.

(#2) This is an interesting distillation of the film’s premise, which helps give the design definition even if the background is lacking. (#3) While this does give some connection to the plot, there’s a lot of empty space that doesn’t need to be empty. (#4) This has a Hitchcockian vibe to it, which can make up for the empty blackness in the design. (#5) This isn’t that interesting a design and while it might connect to the film, it does so unnecessarily obliquely.

Trailer Rating: B- / B-

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Review: (#1) The trailer tries to preserve some of the suspense of the film’s narrative by setting it up and then suggesting something sinister going on. Yet, even succeeding on that point, a lot of the images and terror of the trailer is overly familiar.

(#2) This is about on par with the prior trailer except that it leaves out several of the details trying instead to sell itself on the presence of Justin Long, who isn’t exactly a box office draw.