Debapriya Bhattacharya
Zach Cregger made his solo directorial debut in 2022 with the horror thriller ‘Barbarian,’ which follows a young woman’s experience at an Airbnb in Detroit. Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) appears at her rented property on the night before her job interview to discover that it has been double-booked. The man occupying the property, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), invites her into the home and offers to share the lodging. However, Tess soon becomes aware of someone keeping an eye on her. Investigating the property, she discovers a hidden door leading down to the basement and faces a horrific truth that has long been part of the home. Exploring themes of abuse, abandonment, and intuition, the film keeps the interest of the audience piqued as the twists keep coming.
Barbarian is Inspired by a Self-help Book
Penned by the director Zach Cregger, ‘Barbarian’ is a work of fiction that is inspired by the book ‘The Gift of Fear.’ A self-help title from security consultant Gavin de Becker, it provides detailed examples of problematic behavior of men that have been normalized by society and are expected to be ignored by women. Describing them as “little, tiny, microscopic red flags,” Creggar says that the book suggests not to ignore them. “Because a lot of times, when we bypass these little warning signs, it’s to our detriment,” he explained at a screening event hosted by ScreenRant in Los Angeles in 2022.
Such signs include a man paying a compliment or doing a favor that is deemed unwanted by a woman, as well as initiating any form of physical touch. Reading about it made Creggar realize that, as a man, he never has to consider half the world’s population as a potential threat. It drove him to write a scene with as many red flags for women as he could incorporate. “I thought about a double-booked Airbnb, and you’re stuck in a house with a man late at night, and he’s doing all those things. He’s making you tea; you didn’t want it,” he shared. “But that’s kind of the joy of that scene: trying to decode him.”
Zach Cregger’s Experience with Airbnb Shaped Barbarian’s Premise
While Zach Cregger has never been the victim of a double-booked Airbnb as Tess Marshall in ‘Barbarian,’ he has always worried about putting someone else through the experience on account of being a host. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the director shared one unfavorable experience he had as a guest that likely stayed in his subconscious and influenced the script’s progress. Creggar once booked an Airbnb while attending a wedding. “When I got there really late at night, it was a really bad neighborhood, and the lockbox code didn’t work. So it was really scary, and I was out there on the street for half an hour. It was just sketchy as hell,” he recalled.
When a police car drove by, Creggar flagged it down and told the officer that he was considering breaking into the home in his predicament. The officer advised him not to go through with the idea, and in the end, he had to find another place to stay. While Creggar admits to being occasionally at odds with Airbnb, he clearly states that it did not directly influence the script. “I don’t have a bone to pick with them or anything. I still use them and like them,” expressed Creggar, who also rented his place on Vrbo.
Dilapidated Detroit Neighborhood Formed the Perfect Setting for Barbarian
In the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zach Cregger was asked if his film is meant to hold a mirror to the blight and neglect seen for real in certain neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan, which was once considered idyllic. The creator clarified that ‘Barbarian’ is not a “big statement” on the condition of smaller neighborhoods in the city, but rather it was helped by the setting that such a neighborhood provided. Creggar noted that he spends a significant amount of time in Detroit, visiting friends who live in the city every year.
While deciding on the filming location for Barbarian, which is set in a desolate neighborhood, Creggar pointed out, “There are more and more places like that in America, but Detroit was the big one. So it just felt ripe for a neighborhood where you can do almost anything, and no one’s going to notice because it’s abandoned. It’s also cinematic and creepy.” While he is happy with the film giving rise to conversations on the state of neighborhoods in Michigan, Creggar made it clear that his sole agenda while making the film was to ensure that people had a great viewing experience. Whatever else that comes up is simply “a bonus.”
