Barbarian: parents' guide
Best for ages 17 and up. Rated R for some strong violence and gore, disturbing material, language throughout and nudity.
A twisty, deeply disturbing horror film for older teens and adults only. A woman finds her rental house double-booked, then discovers what lives in the tunnels beneath it. The gore is extreme, including a skull smashed against a wall and a torn-off arm used as a club. Old videotapes reveal a man who kidnapped and raped women, with an assault heard rather than seen, and the backstory involves incest. A naked creature appears in many scenes, roughly 60 f-words are spoken, and a character shoots himself. We suggest 17 for the sexual violence themes and gore.
What's in it
Violence
StrongVery gory: a man's head is bashed into a wall until crushed, an eye is gouged, an arm is ripped off and used as a club, and people are shot or thrown from a tower. Sexual violence: tapes show abducted women; a rape is heard.
Language
StrongPlugged In counted about 60 f-words and roughly 15 s-words, plus a homophobic slur, "bitch," "hell" and around a dozen misuses of God's or Jesus' name.
Sex and nudity
ModerateNo sex scenes, but a naked, deformed woman is shown with bare breasts in many scenes and forcibly breastfeeds a captive adult. A video shows a woman breastfeeding. Dialogue covers rape, an actor's rape accusation, and a man fathering children with captives and their daughters.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateTwo adults share wine and get a little tipsy. Another character goes out drinking, comes home very drunk and vomits the next morning. Police assume the heroine is on drugs. No drug use is shown.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongRelentless: long stretches in pitch-dark tunnels and cages, frequent jump scares, a screeching creature lunging from the shadows, bloody handprints in hidden rooms, and disturbing home videos of captives. Two adults are forced to drink from a baby bottle.
Sensitive topics
- Sexual assault
- Suicide
- Child abuse
Worth talking about
One character brushes off a rape accusation against himself while the heroine is repeatedly doubted. Talk about believing people who report abuse and what real accountability looks like.
On our lists
Similar picks around 17+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Plugged In, Common Sense Media, the-numbers.com, Wikipedia, movieguide.org. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.