Step into the eerie realm of the supernatural through the lens of the horror film Barbarian, a tale that’s as eerie as they come. The movie itself is centered on Tess (Georgina Campbell), a woman who finds out her room is double booked while she’s in Detroit for an interview. In a twist of events, she decides to share the room with the handsome stranger, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), which raises several red flags. However, he turns out being the least of her problems during her stay there. That’s where the character of The Mother in Barbarian comes in.
As the plot unfolds, The Mother becomes the focal point, shrouded in mystery and dark secrets. In this spine-chilling tale, the audience is thrust into a world where the unknown lurks in every shadow. Even worse, The Mother’s presence looms ominously. With an aura of mysticism and a shroud of ambiguity, The Mother stands as a character that embodies both fear and fascination. So, without further ado, let’s delve into the intricacies of The Mother in Barbarian.
Who Is The Mother In Barbarian?
In a nutshell, The Mother played by Matthew Patrick Davis, is depicted as some sort of grotesque monster lurking in the basement of an Airbnb. She’s a mentally unstable and physically malformed old woman who’s inhabited the house for up to four decades. Despite the fact that she’s definitely an old woman, her mind is child-like in more ways than one. Nevertheless, she’s latched onto the idea of being a mother — in fact she was groomed for it. As such, she forcefully tries to take care of anyone she comes across and sometimes even nurtures them to death. It’s important to note that The Mother loves her children dearly, in her own twisted way.
Then there’s her super strength, despite having a frail looking and incredibly deformed body, The Mother can hold her own. She has the ability to tear a human limb for limb and even tear an actual head in half. Even more, throughout the movie, she proves to be increasingly hard to kill. Not only did she survive being rammed into a house but she was hit by a car and walked away unscathed. Altogether, The Mother’s portrayal in Barbarian transcends traditional horror tropes. embracing a sense of otherworldly terror that can’t be categorized.
Pushing The Narrative: The Mother’s Motivations
At the forefront of The Mother’s motivations is her desire to be a mother, but that is very much hinged on her dark past. A product of incest, rape and abuse on the part of her father/husband, Frank. He raised her alongside all his daughters and wives to be subservient and nurturing. Due to the horrors she faced at his hand, he’s the only person that The Mother is truly afraid of. In that way, she’s reckless, and her recklessness makes her super dangerous. She instantly takes a liking to Tess and abducts her then tries to force her to be the daughter she can never truly have.
Who Plays The Mother In The Barbarian?
Mastering a role so grotesque and intricate doesn’t come easily, but Matthew Patrick Davis embodied it. Of course a whole lot of make up and prosthetics went into the process of transforming him into the deranged creature. Thanks to his towering height of 6 feet 8 inches, he was able to truly project an intimidating and terrifying presence. For the most part, he was buck naked but covered in prosthetic appliques from head to toe. He revealed to Variety in an interview, “I had a weird plastic fake ass but it looked so bad it was just like — We’re just going to have it with a thong.” He also went on to say that he wore a “weird merkin thing that covered the front of my crotch.”
Davis has been in showbiz since 2005, but the role of The Mother in Barbarian is his biggest one to date. The actor has also been in Jane The Virgin, Throwing Shade, Henry Danger, Dwight In Shining Armor and Community. Besides his acting prowess, Davis is also a talented musician and songwriter, so he’s as multitalented as they come. Most of his songs and renditions can be found on his YouTube face.
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