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Barbarians
UK 2021
produced by Laurie Cook, Charles Dorfman, Jason Newmark, David Gilbery (executive), Samuel Marshall (executive), Marlon Vogelgesang (executive) for Samuel Marshall Films, Media Finance Capital
directed by Charles Dorfman
starring Iwan Rheon, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Tom Cullen, Inès Spiridonov, Connor Swindells, Tommy McDonnell, Will Kemp, Steve Saunders, Kevin Ryan, Hedy Krissane
story by Statten Roeg, Charles Dorfman, screenplay by Charles Dorfman, music by Marc Canham
review by Mike Haberfelner
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It's Adam's (Iwan Rheon) birthday, and he and his girlfriend Eva
(Catalina Sandino Moreno) plan to spend the evening with their friend
Lucas (Tom Cullen) and his girlfriend Chloe (Inès Spiridnov) at their
soon-to-be dreamhome in the country. Now what one needs to know here is
that Lucas is the very land developer to sell them their dream home as the
first tenants of a whole building project. And Lucas isn't exactly the
nicest of people, he tries to turn everything to his advantage, and
doesn't even shy away from trying the sale price of the place after he and
Adam and Eva have already agreed on a sum. Furthermore he can't stop
making fun of Adam's short height and pretty much tries to play alpha dog
with Adam all the time, much to the latter's dismay - so much so that Adam
spikes one of Lucas's drinks. What Lucas of course doesn't know is that
the child Chloe's pregnant with might very well be Adam's, who had a short
affair with her - but of course that comes out during the evening, which
is when the argument between the two men gets physical ... so they totally
fail that three armed men in animal masks have just made it into the
house. Soon our little dinner party ends up all tied up and gagged, who as
it first looks have something to do with the nearby druidic monument - but
eventually it becomes clear that they're the sons of Lucas's business
partner whom he has tricked out of his property and driven to suicide. Our
heroes try to fight back, but Lucas is at that point all drugged up, Adam
isn't much of a fighter, so it's really up to the girls ... For
the most part, this is a really fine satire about toxic masculinity, built
on the grounds of a folk horror premise. And the four leads really carry
this part well and play well off one another while the direction really
gets the gist of things. And even when the folk horror angle is somewhat
subverted and things go towards more down-to-earth home invasion, that
works. It's only the finale that doesn't quite cut the slack, as it's very
much on the conventional side, and actually re-affirms the alpha dog
attitudes it has so long poked fun at, and in a very predictable way even.
Still, in all a fun movie, just the ending could have been improved.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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