ZACH CREGGER WAS not expecting his horror directing debut to even make it to cinemas, let alone become one of the sleeper hits of the year. Yet when it opened in the US in September, Barbarian went straight to the top of the box-office charts. “I was hoping it was going to get released on a streaming platform and then hopefully people would find it over the next couple of years,” he tells Empire. Instead, the comedy writer and performer — known for US sitcoms like Wrecked and comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know — found himself becoming one of the hottest new horror directors of the year.
Barbarian pivots on a double-booked Airbnb in a sketchy Detroit neighbourhood that forces Tess (Georgina Campbell) to stay overnight with clean-cut Keith (Bill Skarsgård). Only this Airbnb holds a violent secret in its basement.