‘Barbarian’ Ending Explained: Zach Cregger’s Gruesome Horror Movie Doesn’t Hold Back

Barbarian, one of the buzziest horror films of 2022, is now streaming on HBO Max, free to anyone with a subscription. So if you don’t yet have Halloween plans, well, strap in. Barbarian is a wild ride from start to finish, and it’s not one for the faint of heart.

Written and directed by Zach Cregger, Barbarian stars Georgina Campbell as a woman named Tess who books a room in Detroit when she’s in town for a job interview. She discovers the house has been double-booked with another renter named Keith, played by Bill Skarsgård, aka Pennywise from It. But in a twist, it’s not Pennywise that Tess needs to worry about.

This is the kind of movie where you may want to go in totally blind… or you may want to read a detailed summary, rather than watching these horrors play out on screen. If you’re in the latter category, then Decider is here to help. Read on for a breakdown of the Barbarian plot summary and the Barbarian ending, explained.

Warning: This article contains Barbarian spoilers. Like, basically every single Barbarian spoiler you can think of. If you haven’t yet seen the movie, save this one for later. 

WHAT IS THE BARBARIAN PLOT SUMMARY?

Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) arrives at her Airbnb in a rundown part of Detroit, Michigan, only to discover she’s been double booked. Unable to find other accommodations thanks to a medical convention in town, Tess agrees to share the space with the other man booked there, a guy named Keith (Bill Skarsgard).

Tess is wary of Keith at first, and she does everything right—takes a photo of his ID, refuses to drink liquids he hands her, and keeps her distance. Keith is not offended, but the opposite, in fact—he’s understanding and sweet. Tess and Keith eventually bond over shared interests and genuinely get along. Tess is happy to have an ally, especially when she realizes she’s staying in a really bad part of town. She’s even chased by a homeless man who screams at her to “get out of that house.”

But Tess’s worries aren’t over. While Keith is out during the day, she discovers a hidden room in the basement, containing a gross old bed, a video camera, and a bucket. Classic torture chamber stuff. Worse, the basement door locks behind her. Thankfully, Keith turns up to free her. Tess packs up to leave right away, but Keith convinces her to wait while he takes a look. Keith goes down to investigate… and doesn’t come back.

Tess, against her better judgment, goes down in search of Keith. She is sure to prop the basement door open this time. She eventually hears Keith screaming for help, and finds yet another hidden room. She goes in and finds a frantic Keith, who tells her that something bit him. He insists they need to run away from the exit. Before she can convince him to follow her, a hideous, deranged, naked, old woman smashes in Keith’s head and kills him. RIP.

The movie abruptly cuts away to Los Angeles, where we are introduced to a new character: sitcom actor AJ Gilbride (played by Justin Long). AJ receives a phone call telling him he’s fired from his job, thanks to a rape allegation put forward by his costar. More women come forward, and AJ is forced to liquidate his assets in order to pay for his fancy lawyer.

One of those assets includes a certain Detroit property that he rents out. AJ shows up at the house, and is surprised to find evidence of a renter, given that it hasn’t been rented out in weeks. Eventually, the propped-open basement door prompts him to explore the basement. He finds the hidden room, but rather than being scared, like Tess, he is excited by the prospect of more square footage increasing the property value.

AJ goes down to the secret basement with a tape measure and finds a strange room with a TV that is playing an outdated informational video about breastfeeding your baby. It isn’t long before he is confronted by the same deformed woman who killed Keith. He flees and falls into a pit, where he finds Tess, who is still alive. Tess tells him to stay calm because getting upset “upsets her.” The two prisoners are offered a baby bottle that is lowered through the cage, and Tess tells AJ they both have to drink it. “Don’t you see?” Tess says. “She just wants you to be her baby.”

AJ refuses to drink from the bottle, so the woman—referred to in the script as The Mother—drags AJ away and forces him to breastfeed. While The Mother is distracted, Tess manages to escape the house. She is helped by the homeless man who chased her earlier, whose name is Andre (played by Jaymes Butler). It turns out, Andre was just trying to help her. Tess wants to go back to help AJ, but Andre warns her that The Mother comes out to terrorize the neighborhood at night.

The movie flashes back to the 1980s. We meet a man named Frank (played by Richard Brake) while he’s shopping for supplies for a newborn baby. After his shopping, he follows a woman home and cases her house by pretending to be a workman. Then he goes back to his house—the same house where Tess and AJ will one day be trapped. But it’s not yet rundown, and instead pristine. (It’s also a mostly white neighborhood, with the implication that racist, white people are leaving due to their new Black neighbors.) Basically, we’re meant to understand that Frank is abducting and raping women, getting them pregnant, and then raping his children, too.

WHAT IS THE BARBARIAN ENDING EXPLAINED?

Back in the present day, Andre tells Tess basically that. The Mother is the product of years of rape and incest. Back in the house, AJ finds Frank in a deteriorating state in bed. AJ assumes Frank is a victim of The Mother and promises to get him out. But then he watches a video of Frank raping one of his victims. Frank reaches for a gun and shoots himself in the head before AJ can stop him.

Meanwhile, Tess has broken into the house and gotten her car keys. When The Mother leaves the house to hunt Tess down, Tess runs The Mother over with her car. She goes back into the house to rescue AJ. AJ, thinking she’s The Mother, shoots her. But at least he’s sorry about it and helps her escape the house.

Tess realizes The Mother’s body is gone, and must still be alive. Tess leads them to the hideout that Andre told her about. But The Mother finds them there. The Mother kills Andre, and corners Tess and AJ on a water tower roof. AJ throws Tess off the tower, knowing that The Mother will follow, thinking he can save himself. But the fall doesn’t kill either Tess or The Mother.

Instead, The Mother comes back to life and literally rips AJ’s head apart. As The Mother coos over Tess as her “baby,” Tess closes her eyes and shoots The Mother in the head. And with that, the movie ends!

Phew. A few extra shots show us Tess limping away, so you know she got out OK. Watch out, Laurie Strode, because there’s a new final girl in town.