An overlooked 2022 horror movie, which received high critical praise in horror circles when it hit theaters, has just dropped on Netflix just in time to prepare viewers for the director’s much-anticipated follow-up movie. Not only is Barbarian a new Netflix release, but it is also one of the most-watched movies on the streaming platform.
Netflix added Barbarian to the streaming service on June 1, 2025, and it was an immediate hit. The horror movie quickly sH๏τ up the rankings and hit as high as the third most-watched movie on the streaming giant the day after its release. This is great news for the horror film and director Zach Cregger, since his next horror film arrives in August. Barbarian stars Georgina Campbell as Tess, a woman who arrives at an Airbnb in Detroit and ends up in a battle for her life.
Zach Cregger’s Weapons hits theaters on August 8, 2025.
The movie hits Netflix less than three months before Zach Cregger’s next horror movie hits theaters. Cregger, who got his start in the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids You Know, saw success with Barbarian, which made $45.4 million on a $4.5 million budget and has a 92% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score. His next movie, Weapons, arrives on August 8, 2025, and is about a community panic when 17 children who share the same school classroom disappear overnight.
What This Means For Barbarian
Horror Fans Can Remember The Brilliance Of The Horror Movie
This Netflix success comes at the perfect time for Zach Cregger and his new movie, but it is also great news for Barbarian itself. While Barbarian was a box office success with great reviews, it seems like it quickly disappeared and now more horror fans can see why the movie is so great. It is the only true horror movie in the Netflix top 10 right now and this means it should get a lot of attention over the start of June. Its box office was strong, but it deserves to be a much bigger horror mainstay.
Barbarian tells the story of a young woman named Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) who arrives in Detroit before a job interview. However, the Airbnb she scheduled ended up double-booked, and she reluctantly stays there with the other man, Keith (Bill Skarsgård). Alas, it isn’t Keith she needs to be concerned about, but a mysterious woman living in the tunnels under the house known as The Mother. What results in Barbarian is a terror-filled night, but one with a slight tinge of humor in its bones.
Our Take On Barbarian’s Streaming Success
This Gives Zach Cregger A Great Chance To Promote Weapons
With Barbarian on Netflix, and with such high streaming numbers, it looks like a perfect chance for director Zach Cregger to really get some momentum heading into Weapons. While the film still has over two months to go before its release, this could remind people that the former stand-up comedian is a very talented movie director as well. It also gives him a chance to show Barbarian isn’t an anomaly in his career.
The success of Barbarian also opens the door for Cregger to get more prominent work down the line, as he has also signed on to write and direct a movie in the Resident Evil franchise. However, on a more base level, fans can now see one of the more overlooked modern-day horror masterpieces of the 2020s on Netflix, and Barbarian is sure to impress even the hardest-to-please horror aficionado.
