Four friends come together for a celebratory dinner party at a country house. But as the night progresses dark secrets emerge and unsettling events begin to unfold around them.

For in-depth thoughts on Barbarians (2022), please see my colleague Tia Fabi’s review from its theatrical debut here.

Video Quality

Barbarians debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation in its original aspect ratio that represents this film well without fail. The movie often takes place in darkness or shadow, which is aided by deep black levels that hold together nicely. Objects hold up well in these instances and retain their depth with banding only showing up in rare instances. The transfer provides a terrific amount of detail and clarity even in less than ideal situations. You may notice a slight loss of fine detail during more active moments in the shadows, but these instances are relatively brief. The movie itself has a natural palette that renders very nicely on screen, especially when it comes to the interior of the house. There are certain deep hues such as the red of the blood which make a big impression. No damage or digital noise was detected that would detract from this transfer. IFC Films and RLJE have done nice work here.

Audio Quality

The film comes to Blu-Ray with an engaging DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that executes the sound design perfectly. The movie indulges in environmental sounds to add to the sense of anxiety with a very enveloping atmosphere. Surround channels create a very distinct sense of spatial awareness with sounds emanating from all of their correct points. The low end is not consistently active, but it adds some extra texture that accentuates the atmosphere. Dialogue and sound effects are balanced well with the score where nothing loses clarity. Every element is executed as well as you would hope. There are English SDH and Spanish subtitles provided.

Special Features

There are no special features provided on this disc.

Final Thoughts

Barbarians (2022) has some individually unsettling moments, but nothing ever seems to come together in a satisfying manner. Elements are introduced and seemingly forgotten to be addressed later in the narrative. There are two distinct parts of this film that both feel underbaked, each equally needing a bit more content to flesh it out to something satisfying. Even the conclusion just feels as if the movie decided to end without much of a real firm thesis. The performances are all strong throughout, and there are some very engaging stretches, but as a whole it fails to reach its potential. RLJE Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features.

Barbarians (2022) is currently available to purchase on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.