Samuel Marshall Productions has announced that Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones) and Tom Cullen (Downton Abbey) are set to lead the cast of writer-director Charlie Dorfman’s UK thriller Barbarians, where they will star alongside Catalina Sandino Moreno (The Affair), Conor Swindells (Sex Education), Will Kemp (Reign), Tommy McDonnell (Starred Up) and newcomer Ines Spiridonov.

Barbarians centres around a civilised dinner party in a spectacular country house that sees four friends – Lucas (Cullen), Adam (Rheon), Chloe (Spiridonov) and Eva (Sandino Moreno) – come together for a birthday celebration. However, as the night progresses secrets and lies force themselves into the light, polite pretensions disappear, and unexpected and unsettling events begin to unfold around them. Will their friendships stand the test? Can they survive the night? Or will their secrets eventually catch up with them?

“Barbarians is a unique thriller, full of tension and intensity that ratchets up as the story develops and human nature gets laid bare in its rawest form,” states Dorfman, who is making his feature directorial debut on the movie. “I’m so excited to be working with such a talented cast and crew to bring Barbarians to life.”

“MFC are thrilled to be partnering with our sister company Samuel Marshall Productions again in what will be our third collaboration,” adds executive producer David Gilbery (Bone Tomahawk). “The film is extremely well crafted and we can’t wait to see Charlie put his own unique stamp on what promises to be a really exciting debut project.”

Barbarians is shooting now in the UK.