I have never trusted AirBnB. I have never trusted similar short-term rentals. There is something slightly creepy about renting someone else’s home for a night or a week. Who knows what they have done in that apartment before you were there. I am very aware that the same accusation could be made towards the average hotel room, but that’s the thing about fears: they are hardly ever that rational. On top of that there are already a wealth of horror films about scary hotels, from Psycho to 1408. It is about time property shares got their due.

I assume that writer/director Zach Cregger shares my unease about property share. His 2022 horror feature Barbarian opens on tired young professional Tess (Georgina Campbell) arriving at her Detroit rental house only to discover it has been double-booked. With hotels across the city due to a medical convention, Tess is confronted with the choice of fruitlessly seeking other options or sharing the house with the slightly creepy Keith (Bill Skarsgård).

The film’s opening scene is a bravura chain of awkward silences, sideways glances, and ominous red flags. Is Keith who he says he is? Did he genuinely also book the property, or is he lying? Are his ham-fisted attempts to seem welcoming just uncomfortable attempts to seem welcoming, or is there something more sinister in his motives? It is fair to say that there is something untoward about the house, but it is also fair to leave individual viewers to learn the answers for themselves.

This is a smart, well-produced, and suspenseful horror film. It is cine-literate, although sharing some of its influences runs the risk of spoiling its surprises. One notable technique the film employs is unexpectedly switching to an entirely new protagonist partway through. In the vein of Psycho and Parasite, Barbarian does a sudden switch in story by cutting to A.J. (Justin Long), a television director in crisis who has his own connection to the rental property. The change is well-scripted and staged, and actually increases the tension in Cregger’s story. Justin Long, an actor most commonly seen in comedy, wraps an engaging performance around a well-developed character. A.J. has been accused of sexually assaulting an actress, and his panicky reaction to his ensuing career collapse really does leave the viewer uncertain about whether or not he is guilty of the crime. Likewise Campbell and Skarsgård do a strong job playing with the uncertainties of Tess and Keith’s encounter.

The film is atmospherically shot by Zach Kuperstein, and boasts an evocative electronic score by Anna Drubich. Its debt to John Carpenter is obvious and rightfully unashamed. The real star here, to be honest, is Zach Cregger himself. A comic actor and director, this marks his first serious work. It shows a confidence and an inventiveness that is impressive to see, and a clear unabashed love for the horror genre. I hope he continues to play in this field: he strikes me as a valuable new voice for it.