Magnus Martens’ 2023 Christmas-horror comedy, There’s Something in the Barn, revolves around an American family consisting of patriarch Bill, his wife Carol, and children Lucas and Nora. Bill grew up in America after his grandfather left Norway and arrived in the States seeking better opportunities. However, Bill had always dreamt of moving back with his family, and when an opportunity knocked on his door, he couldn’t refuse it. Bill learned that he had inherited a beautiful estate in his hometown. This lit up his heart, and he immediately started making preparations to move back where his heart originally belonged: Norway, the happiest country in the world. Even though Bill, Carol, and Lucas couldn’t be more delighted, Nora wasn’t that thrilled to hear the news. She didn’t like the idea that her parents had no problem leaving their old life behind and moving to the middle of nowhere.
Spoilers Ahead
What Was In The Barn?
Just a few minutes after moving into their house, Lucas told everyone that there was something in the barn. However, he was told that they were in Norway, and the wood was just creaking because of the cold. Bill and Carol planned to refurbish the old barn into a hotel, like a sort of Airbnb for tourists to stay in. Lucas wasn’t ready to put his finger on it and kept spying on the barn. During one of his stakeouts, he noticed a set of glowing eyes behind the half-opened barn door. Even when his parents were out in town making new friends and visiting places, Lucas kept snooping around the barn. One night, Lucas found an elf in the barn who had lived there for years with his brothers. They would happily take care of the barn and the place around it, but only until they weren’t threatened. In one instance, they helped Lucas clear the snow off their driveway in return for a couple of delicious cookies. But the truth was that these elves were volatile and would do anything to scare away intruders. These elves were very traditional and old-fashioned and thus hated any changes to the barn. At the beginning of There’s Something in the Barn, we noticed a man trying to set the same barn on fire, but he was killed by the same group of elves. This man was Bill’s uncle, Erik, whom he had inherited the estate from.
What Angered The Elves?
As established earlier, the elves hated changes to their home, i.e., the barn, and when Bill decided to throw a Christmas party in it, it angered them further. Also, since it was Christmas, Bill littered the backyard with decorations and Christmas lights, which also didn’t sit well with the barn elves. Thus, in anger, the elves destroyed all of the decorations, broke the Christmas gnomes, and everything else. Lucas tried telling them that it was the elves’ doing, whom they had angered by making changes to the barn. However, Bill and Carol figured Lucas was just talking nonsense and some mischievous kids or a moose were behind the vandalism of their property. The elves, at one point, tried to kill Bill by pushing his ladder away while he was hanging lights in the barn. While everyone was enjoying the party, sipping drinks and cookies, Lucas was sitting alone, fearing what the elves would be doing next. He was told by someone that if he put a bowl of porridge out on Christmas Eve, the barn elves wouldn’t do them any harm. This was an ancient ritual to maintain peace between humans and elves. Lucas was told that as long as the elves got their porridge, they would stay happy. Unfortunately, the porridge Lucas made was eaten by Bill, squandering their only chance for a truce between the elves. Lucas tried to replace it with Lutefisk, but this only angered them further.
How Did The Elves Haunt Bill’s Family?
Bill, Nora, and Carol eventually had to believe Lucas’ claims about the barn elves when they found Raymond’s corpse strung above the barn with Christmas lights. What was more troubling was that the barn elf wasn’t alone and was living in the barn with an entire armada. Despite being small, these elves were extremely volatile, strong, and had quick reflexes. The elves tried killing Lucas and his family but were saved when a cop arrived. At first, the cop didn’t believe them and figured they were just drunk and making false calls, pranking people. However, she changed her stance when she saw an elf riding her snowmobile, but before she could call for help, she was killed. The elves trapped the family in Nora’s room while they threw a messy party downstairs. Bill and the family realized that they couldn’t just sit back while the elves ravaged their homes. Thus, the family broke into two teams: Bill and Lucas would go out to get help, while Nora and Carol would stay behind and fight the elves with their homemade hand grenades. This also gave Nora and Carol an opportunity to bond and see beyond their relationship as stepmother and stepdaughter.
Did Bill And Lucas Save Nora And Carol?
Nora and Carol gave the elves a good fight, but they were eventually overpowered and kidnapped. Tor Age, one of the townspeople, tried to calm down the elves and invited them for a dialogue that benefited both sides. He even gave the elves an example of the Oslo agreement that maintained the truce between Israel and Palestine for a while. Tor’s talk about peace bored the elves, and he was shot. However, one of the elves had a change of heart, and he helped Bill and Lucas free their family. He was the same elf whom Lucas had fed cookies to.
During There’s Something in the Barn‘s ending, the family realized that it was either the elves or them, and thus, they set the entire barn on fire, killing all the elves. As for the kind elf, he found a new home in Tor’s Museum, which was perfect since it had no electricity and was not fit to host a party (being sarcastic here). Even though this Christmas was bloody and involved a couple of people getting murdered in a brutal fashion, it still gave Bill and his family opportunities to bond with each other. Nora and Carol became friends, and the former realized the reasons behind Carol’s nagging. Carol also agreed to give Nora some space and not bore her with her talks of “visions and manifestations.” As for Lucas, he made a new friend, an elf, who would honor their newfound peace as long as he was fed and not bothered.
