Skip to main content

Discover the terror below in the new teaser for Barbarian

Earlier this week, the trailer for Gone in the Night opened the door for a new genre of horror films: bad Airbnb double-bookings. Now there’s a horror story that speaks to today’s audience! The first teaser trailer for 20th Century Studios’ Barbarian continues this new tradition by introducing us to Tess, a young woman whose rental is already taken by a man named Keith. Fortunately, Keith seems generous enough to let Tess stay with him for the night. The bad news is that Tess has seriously underestimated just how much trouble she’s about to find herself in.

BARBARIAN | Official Trailer | In Theaters August 31

The trailer is intense, but it doesn’t really tell us much about the premise of the film. There’s something creepy below the house in a hidden passage, and someone (or something) has Keith begging for help and crawling on his hands and knees toward Tess. The whole situation is a huge red flag, and it will surely be reflected in Tess’ negative Airbnb review if she manages to survive the night.

Recommended Videos

Here’s the official synopsis for the film, courtesy of 20th Century Studios:

“In Barbarian, a young woman traveling to Detroit for a job interview books a rental home. But when she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house is double-booked, and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected houseguest.”

Georgina Campbell in Barbarian.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Georgina Campbell headlines the film as Tess, while Bill Skarsgård. Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler, and Jaymes Butler also have roles in the movie. But curiously, only Campbell and Skarsgård appear in the trailer.

Zach Cregger wrote and directed Barbarian, which is one of the rare 20th Century Studios films that isn’t going direct-to-Hulu. Instead, it will hit theaters on August 31.

Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
Avatar: The Way of Water trailer highlights Pandora in all its beauty
Two Na'vi characters stand in the water in a scene from Avatar: The Way of Water.

Ahead of the film's release date next month, 20th Century Studios released the official trailer for the highly anticipated Avatar: The Way of Water. The trailer features breathtaking visuals of Pandora, including stunning ocean footage, and teases an impending conflict for the Na'vi.

The sequel to 2009's Avatar is set more than 10 years after the events in the first film. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is now fully a member of the Na'vi, and with his partner, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), had four children together. However, trouble is on the horizon as outside forces attempt to destroy Pandora once again. It's a battle for survival as Jake tries to save his family and his new world from destruction.

Read more
The ending of Barbarian explained
Georgina Campbell crawls up a metal staircase in Barbarian.

This article contains spoilers for Barbarian (2022).

Barbarian is one of the most unpredictable movies of the year. From the moment its protagonist, Tess (Georgina Campbell), arrives at her Airbnb rental in the film’s opening scene, Barbarian is hellbent on pushing its characters into uncertain territory. However, once Tess discovers the hidden entrance to an underground tunnel in her rental house’s basement, Barbarian quite literally tosses viewers into the deep end. It’s only minutes later, after all, that Tess watches as her accidental housemate, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), has his head smashed in by a giant monstrous woman known only as The Mother (Matthew Patrick Davis).

Read more
Barbarian review: the less you know, the better
Georgina Campbell holds up her phone in a dark tunnel in "Barbarian."

Barbarian is a true swing for the fences. The film, which marks writer-director Zach Cregger’s solo directorial debut, is a horror mash-up that seems in certain moments like a modern riff on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and at other times like a loving homage to the kind of campy horror comedies that Sam Raimi has perfected. When it’s at its best is when Barbarian feels like it is combining those influences to become a horror ride that is simultaneously absurd and terrifying.

More than anything else, Barbarian is unlike anything else you’ll see in a movie theater this year. That kind of remark doesn’t always equal praise. Uniqueness alone is, after all, not enough to save a movie that is otherwise coming apart at the seams. In the case of Barbarian, though, the film's commitment to delivering a genuinely unpredictable and tonally-challenging experience is what makes it so memorable. To watch it is to get swept up not only in the dramatic stakes of the film’s story but also in the audacious, go-for-broke creative spirit at the center of it.

Read more