Barbarian’s biggest question answered, and why it doesn’t set up a sequel

New horror movie Barbarian hits US screens today, and is doubtless already scaring up a storm. But the film’s writer-director has bad news for those thinking a line late in the movie is setting up a potential sequel.

Barbarian is one of the best horror movies of the year. The film revolves around a young woman arriving at rental accommodation in Detroit late one night, only to discover said house is double-booked.

She nevertheless enters the home, befriends the man staying there, and ends up staying over. But on hearing noises emanating from the basement, she heads downstairs… and that’s where the horror begins.

An entertaining shocker, Barbarian had audiences at London’s FrightFest laughing and screaming in delight throughout. They also got to ask the man who made the movie questions afterwards, one of which concerned a potential sequel. So be warned, the following article features BARBARIAN SPOILERS.

Answering Barbarian’s biggest question

During a FrightFest post-screening Q&A with Zach Cregger, the writer-director was quizzed about a line that’s said towards the end of the movie.

Having escaped the clutches of the movie’s perceived monster – and referring to her house of horrors – one character states “she’s not even the worst thing in there.”

An audience member asked if that was setting up something bigger and more scary for a sequel. “No,” came the answer from Cregger, who went onto elaborate why.

Cregger: “In my mind… there is no other in-bred anything in the house. She’s the end of the line, as Morrissey would say. And I think it was a line that caused a lot of friction, actually. Because I think some people might be a little let down by that line.

“When he says, ‘She’s not even the worst thing in there,’ I do think the imagination goes crazy, which is by design, and we think maybe there’s something bigger and meaner. To me, it’s very satisfying that he’s referring to a frail old man. But he is right – Frank is infinitely worse than the mother. That’s why I fought to keep that.”

So there you have it – while the mother chasing them is scary, Frank is the real monster in Barbarian. And there’s nothing else in the house… unless Barbarian is a huge hit, in which case expect that answer to change.

Barbarian is in US cinemas now, while it doesn’t yet have a UK release date. You can read our review of the movie here.