Straight out of Norway, There's Something in the Barn (2023) crashes into the holiday season like a sleigh full of dynamite, delivering a sensational Christmas movie, a comedy horror that’s an absolute gift for fans of chaos.
Picture a Chevy Chase National Lampoon family vibe mixed with Gremlins, but with a twist. Swap out those ‘don’t feed ’em after midnight’ gremlins for a Fjøsnisse, a pint-sized barn elf from Norwegian folklore who tends to farm chores and sprinkles good fortune like magical reindeer dust. However, dare to shatter their sacred rules, like cranking up the volume with loud noises or shinning bright lights and these little elves turn hostile, doing whatever it takes to drive you out, even if it means killing you.
Nordheims Get Handed a Cursed Adventure
There's no need to dust off your Norwegian dictionary for this gem, There’s Something in the Barn dishes out its holiday havoc predominantly in English, with just a sprinkle of Norwegian for authenticity, making it easily accessible to international audiences.
The Nordheims, a classic American family who are like fish out of water, ditch their suburban sprawl for the allure of a new adventure across the Atlantic in Scandinavia. Their journey begins when Dad Bill (Martin Starr) inherits a farm from his late uncle, Erik, in the mountains of Norway. Glowing with dreams of a new chapter, Bill schemes with his wife Carol (Amrita Acharia) to turn the farm into a picture-perfect Airbnb. But not everyone is sold on this Nordic fjord-life fairy tale, like their daughter Nora (Zoe Winther-Hansen), who misses her life and friends back home, and some of the locals welcome the Nordheims with glances that scream, 'You’re in for a barn full of trouble!'
We're first introduced to Bill Nordheim's uncle, Erik, who has been driven to his breaking point by the pint-sized terror squatting in the barn, a Fjøsnisse with a grudge. In a wild, last-ditch effort to torch the elf’s lair and end its reign, Erik tragically meets his own demise, an event that sets the stage for his nephew's arrival.
A Christmas Movie That Gets it Right Beneath the Shining Nordic Lights
We had a lot of fun with this one, as it strikes the perfect balance between horror and comedy and delivers a non-stop thrill ride that captivates and entertains. The cultural differences between the family’s new life in Norway and what they're used to back home lead to those wholesome, unintentionally funny moments that arise naturally, rather than feeling like forced quirkiness.
It's a dazzling triumph, practically bursting at the seams, leaving us hard-pressed to find faults to grumble about. The barn elves, those little critters, are the undeniable stars. They’re not only visually eye-catching but also carry a magical aura, which is fantastically highlighted through the movie’s cinematography. From the gnome designs to the locations, the movie doesn't cut any corners.
At first, the family's barn elf, played by Kiran Shah, prances in like a cuddly Nordic mascot, twinkly-eyed and full of playful antics, even winning over the Nordheims' son, Lukas (Townes Bunner). Bill, however, has big plans to make their Norwegian Christmas special, decking the halls with a seizure-inducing array of neon lights and a monstrous Santa statue that could scare off the Grinch.
This over-the-top festive assault breaks the elf’s golden rules, the very ones that the town's local elf expert and the movie’s great sidekick, Tor Åge (Calle Hellevang-Larsen), warned Lucas about, now transforming their adorable pal into a vengeful gremlin with a score to settle.
Barnelfish, Bonkers Antics and a Perfect Christmas Soundtrack
Cross one Barn Elf, and you’ve got a whole posse of tiny terrors on your tail, complete with their own unique language called Barnelfish, a gloriously nonsensical babble that sounds like a drunken choir of chipmunks gargling Christmas carols. This only amplifies their strange, otherworldly presence, adding an extra layer of fascination as the family scrambles to make sense of it all.
The movie barrels forward with so much gleeful insanity, there’s never a dull moment. We’re tempted to gush about every bonkers detail, like the local cop, Liv (Henriette Steenstrup), growling through her ruined Love Actually Christmas Eve, but anymore would spoil the fun. What we can say is that the movie boasts a killer score packed with holiday classics, capped by a showstopping 'Auld Lang Syne' sequence that hits like a snowball to the heart.
From the mischievous barn elves to the Nordheim clan and the locals they encounter along the way, every piece of this clicks into place like a perfectly wrapped present just waiting to be unwrapped for your viewing pleasure!
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