MovieChat Forums > Barbarian (2022) Discussion > Great movie with plot holes 🤔 **Spoiler...

Great movie with plot holes 🤔 **Spoilers**


I'll just point out 2 that bothered me.
#1 AJ bought the house to rent as an Airbnb. The upstairs was renovated, the basement had original stuff down there. Seems like if you bought a house you'd gut it and in doing so you would have found that rope.
#2 Tess woke up to her door opening. Keith was on the couch sleeping. Mother went back downstairs unnoticed without disrupting anything.

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Yes you're right about those two, and there are more plot holes as well. For instance, why weren't there any previous Airbnb renters missing, prior to Tess and Keith?? I think it was made clear that Tess and Keith were not the first renters - what about all the others before them?? Where did the old woman and the "father" get food all those years? Where were all the bodies buried over so many years? Where are the bodies of all the man's kidnap/rape victims, as well as all the babies that were produced?? That's A LOT of bodies!

If one can ignore all the obvious plot holes, it's a really good movie. If one likes most things explained, forget it!!

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You're right. The previous renters would have been gone and where'd he get the food (which wouldn't have lasted in that many years btw)?
Also, I think it's safe to assume the town thought Frank had died and that's how AJ bought the house. That being said, how was Frank keeping the lights on. Guy had no job or income haha.

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Yes, very good point and definitely another plot hole.

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As for other renters, I wouldn't assume anything bad would necessarily have happened to them--nothing bad happened to any of the renters/owner in this movie until they went exploring the basement. It stands to reason that if they just went about their business and slept and left, they would have been fine.

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But that contradicts what Tess was told by the Black guy who was trying to help she and Keith. He knew there was a violent, crazy woman living there because she came out at night and he went into hiding every night so she wouldn't hurt him. It doesn't make sense that someone like that - someone completely insane and violent - would leave previous renters unharmed. And yet, nothing is ever mentioned about it. That is definitely a flaw in the writing.

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Fair. I guess we'll just have to accept that it happens on a case-by-case basis...maybe if she hadn't woken up when her door was open, one or both of them would have been killed? There's nothing that specifically contradicts what happens I guess, so it's more of a mystery than a plot hole.

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👍

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exactly.

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homeaway renters as well

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She didn't kill them because she saw them as her babies, how is this not obvious?

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I don't see it that way at all. If she thought they were her babies she would have dragged them downstairs and tried to feed them. But she didn't do that to Keith or Tess or, it seems, to any prior renters. It wasn't until they were in the basement that she thought they were her babies. This crazed lunatic just ignored everyone upstairs and yet went running through the neighborhood every night terrorizing people! Just poor writing.

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well there was not enough time to produce multiple generations of incest

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I agree with the title, but what confused me the most was who "magically" shut the door to the basement and locked her in?

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I'm sure it was just a draft in the house lol

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I'm sure it was just a draft in the house lol

* If a simple draft could lock people into the basement, why wasn't the door fixed? After all, the basement contained laundry facilities and all the toilet paper for the house, so everyone was at risk.
* Why wouldn't previous renters have complained?
* And why was the owner so quick to prevent the door from shutting on him? Did he already know it would lock him out?

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You are overthinking it. It is a fun movie, but everybody in it is stupid, including the bad guys, and also requires a lot suspension of disbelief.

The filmmakers tried to give it some tongue-in-cheek spin, but I can't get off the feeling that the product has lesser qualities than those advertised on the package.

Buuut, as I said, it is fun and well made, kept me interested till the end. Worth watching. Probably not worth remembering.

7/10

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