Spoiler Alert: this post includes spoilers for Barbarian.
Content Warning: the following article contains discussions of sexual violence.
Barbarian's most shocking moment is the violently abrupt death of the character Keith, but his chilling end is a critical puzzle piece to making the movie work as a whole. Keith is staying at the Airbnb when Tess, the main protagonist, arrives and sees that they've been double booked, a crucial situation that keeps the first act of the film tension-filled and unpredictable. The very purpose of his character is for you to question his motives and worry about Tess's safety rooming with an absolute stranger — until he meets his horrid fate.
An integral part of the initial song-and-dance is that the actor cast as the Keith character in Barbarian is Bill Skarsgård, who famously played Pennywise in It and It: Chapter Two. This casting choice plays on the audience's pre-conceived notions of what Skarsgård has done in previous works, thus tipping the scales toward suspicion for his role in Barbarian. Those expectations are later yanked from beneath the audience in a graphic and unexpected sequence in which The Mother (Matthew Davis), Barbarian's monstrous killer, murders Keith in front of Tess (Georgina Campbell). The shocking scene is necessary for driving home the movie's theme and message as well as establishing The Mother's reasons for her actions and reactions toward men.
The Mother Didn't Trust Men In Barbarian (For A Good Reason)
Barbarian's theme and its true message are represented through Justin Long's character, AJ, who loses his acting career and public image after he sexually assaults a female co-star. Also, The Mother is revealed to be one of the many sufferers of Frank (Richard Brake), the serial rapist and kidnapper who kept generations of his inbred rape victims in an underground tunnel system below his house. As a result, The Mother is particularly hostile toward men during the film's conflicts.
The sum of Barbarian's parts comments on the mistreatment of women at the hands of men. The Mother gets increasingly violent with AJ during his escape near the end of Barbarian and immediately kills Keith after a scuffle that resulted in him getting bitten while fleeing the tunnels. On the other hand, when faced with Tess, a woman, she is protective and considers her the baby that she is shielding from the dangers of men. This aversion to men, and affection for women, is further exhibited by her fear of nearing Frank's side of the tunnel and her sacrificial dive from the water tower to save Tess after AJ pushes her off.
What Did The Mother Do With Keith's Body In Barbarian?
Moments after Keith's horrifying demise, Barbarian pivots away to AJ's storyline days later. By the time the focus returns to the tunnels, Keith's body is no longer visible. In an interview with a sequel or prequel to Barbarian can touch upon the actual method of disposal, but it would make sense that The Mother has a way of handling corpses. There seem to have been a number of previous Airbnb tenants and preceding generations of Frank's victims that have been killed in the lower levels of the dungeon. Keith's body must have been taken care of off-screen in one of the many halls, pits, and caves underground.
