Movies, Films & Flix

Warning – Spoilers – Barbarian rules and I recommend you watch it before reading this dumb movie data article.

Once again – Spoilers

I love Barbarian. It’s hilarious, stressful, scary, unpredictable and pretty much every other complimentary word I can think of. Shea Serrano recently watched it for the first time and posted about it on his Good Movie Substack page and it reminded me of a moment in the film when a character named AJ (Justin Long) discovers a labyrinthian basement and tunnel system underneath one of his rental properties in Detroit. Instead of being scared, he’s over-the-moon and immediately starts researching whether it adds to the square footage of the property. Sadly, it doesn’t, but “it can be noted separately in the listing’s total area (yeah…b**ch).” Shortly, after learning this, he finds a tape measure and starts measuring the square footage of the subterranean torture tunnels. He doesn’t get to finish the measurements because horrible things happen, so I decided to analyze the movie and figure it out for him. Here’s what I did

1. Rewatched the movie 
2. Listened to the director’s commentary (very helpful) and watched the behind the scenes docs.
3. I also used a tape measure at certain moments to figure out house length (when compared to the 6’2 Richard Brake). 
4. I analyzed rectangular pallet length, counted stairs, and figured out step counts
5. Counted how steps the characters walked, then I walked the same amount and measure the distance
6. Drew a color-coded visual
7. Did it all again because I’m a maniac
8. Collected timestamps
9. I researched the production – Zach Kuperstein’s Instagram page was very helpful because it provided me with a nice layout of the area. 

Quick Note – Yes – I put way too much work into getting the numbers because these posts only work when they are wildly detailed. I can’t stand lazy numbers or guestimates pulled from nowhere, so I always make sure to base my numbers on something tangible and researched. There’s no way to get a 100% correct estimate, but I tried my best!

Several Assumptions

1. With a trial looming, AJ is going to need $140,000 for legal fees. Since he has no new money coming in, I am 100% certain that he was going to measure every inch of the basement. It doesn’t matter if it’s not on his property, he seemed hellbent on getting the numbers.
2. I initially thought AJ was using a 25-foot tape measure. However, when he measures the distance between two rooms (01:04:00 – Cage Room to Mother’s Room) he takes close to 38 steps (of varying distance) which would max out the 25 feet. So, I have to assume he has a 50-foot tape measure. It’s too small to be a 50-foot tape measure, but it’s a fictional world where tape measure logistics are different
3. Doug’s (Frank’s neighbor) house doesn’t have a basement. Only 33% percent of homes in Wayne County (where Detroit is located) have basements – so I feel pretty good about this assumption. I say this because of tunnel setup, there can’t be a basement
4. In the commentary, Zach (with some uncertainty) says 150 meters of tunnels were built for the production, (01:03:10). My numbers are close but they don’t reach the 150 meter mark. So, I decided to use my numbers and calculations. 
5. During the commentary, Zach is adamant that the staircase is 30 meters long (00:40:00), but I only counted 27 steps. The math doesn’t add up. I’m not saying he’s wrong, I just like using numbers I can vouch for. 
6. They used Zeiss Supreme Prime lenses that exaggerate the space. It may make the rooms seem larger than they are. 

To get to the total, I’ll start with the rooms (and the hole in the ground).

There are five rooms in the underground tunnels

1. Video Camera Room 
2. Cage Room 
3. Mother’s Room (with the TV)
4. Hole in the ground – Prisoner holding
5. Frank’s Room

Video Camera Room – 108 square feet. After measuring the room, AJ says to himself “This comes in at 9 by 12.” (01:02:20) The average guest room in the US is 120 square feet, so I feel good about this number.

Cage Room – 104 square feet –  There are four rectangular pallets in the room (01:03:25). They are typically four-feet long,. Based on the way they are placed in the room, I was able to get a solid estimate. 

Mother’s Room – 108 square feet – I went with 9 by 12 based on the length of the bed and location of the television (01:04:25). 

Hole in the Ground (Prisoner Holding) – 36 Square Feet – There isn’t much room to maneuver in the hole – so six by six works for me. Also, based on a few photos I saw on Instagram, the estimate seems right (01:14:00)

Frank’s Room – 144 square feet – Based on research of similar military-style beds (they’re typically a little over 6-feet long), I calculated the room to be around 12 x 12 (01:21:39).

Total Square Footage of Underground Dungeon Rooms (and hole in the ground) – 500 Square Feet 

Hallway to stairs leading further underground – 120 Square Feet – (01:02:15) – based on the amount of steps I feel safe saying the hallway is about 25 to 30 feet. Also, in the script (page 41), it says “it seems to go on for some 25 feet at least.” Later In the script (page 75) Cale (switched to AJ) says the hallway is “30 by 4.”

Staircase – 115 square feet – If there are 27 steps, the math comes out to 115 Square Feet (based on tread depth, riser height, and stair width).

Bottom of Stars to Cage Room – 131 square feet – It’s about 10 feet to the metal door (after the stairs end), and this is where AJ starts his measurements. I went 22.75 feet. This guess makes sense because it took Georgina Campbell (who is 5’6) 10 steps to reach the room.  (01:03:20).

Quick Note – In the script (page 75), when he gets to the bottom of the stairs he measures the width of the hallway and says “Four Feet.” I’m going with a width of four feet for the hallway. 

Cage Room to Mother’s Room – 182 square feet – AJ takes 23 tiny backward steps before he stops and sees light coming from Mother’s room (01:04:00). I retraced his steps and covered 16.5 feet. Then. He then takes about 18 steps toward the room which is around 29 feet (I took 18 steps and measured them. It’s close).

Mother’s Room to the End of the Tunnel (it branches off left and right) – 240 Square Feet – AJ runs/jogs for 8 seconds (01:05:07) before he has to make a decision whether he should go left or right. Based on a similar running speed he covered close to 60 feet during his eight-second jog. 

Quick Note – After Tess escapes the hole in the ground, she makes it to Mother’s room much faster than AJ  (01:16:16 – She takes about 12 steps from the bell). The two distances don’t match, so I went with the longer running scene. Also, while Tess is walking to Mother’s room, there’s a cut, so it might’ve skipped a bunch of steps to make things zippier. Last thing, shortly after AJ escapes the room he needs 17 steps to get to the bell. The numbers are all over the place, so I trust the straightforward running scene. 

AJ Takes a Left and Falls Into a Hole – 250 square feet – AJ runs for three seconds before dropping his flashlight (01:05:15). He crawls backward for several seconds, and runs for 4 seconds before falling into the hole in the ground.

AJ Gets to the Bell and Takes a Right Towards Frank’s room – 288 Square Feet – This one is tricky, AJ walks for a total of 16 seconds (I only counted on-screen walking) before he stops and sees Mother lurking in the tunnels. When he turns around, he’s about seven feet from Frank’s door (01:19:02).

Conclusion – If AJ has been able to complete his measurements, he would’ve come up with a total of at least 1,826 square feet (169.641 square meters). This number isn’t exact, but based on an absurd amount of research (and measuring my steps), I’m happy with it. 

Here’s the twist!

I’ve mapped out the tunnel system and it expands well past AJ’s property line, so he’d only be able to add part of the first tunnel and camera room. Based on the property lines, and distance between the homes, it’s about 77 square feet that could be added to the total listing area. This is an inflated number for sure, but AJ would give it a shot.