Claim: Dan Stevens stars in The Guest.

The Guest is a 2014 American action horror-thriller film directed and edited by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett , both of whom previously collaborated on a previous film , You 're Next -LRB- 2011 -RRB- . Starring Dan Stevens , Maika Monroe , Leland Orser , Sheila Kelley , Brendan Meyer , and Lance Reddick , the plot follows a soldier named `` David '' unexpectedly visiting the Peterson family , introducing himself as a friend of their son who had died during the Afghanistan war . After the man is welcomed into their home for a couple of days , a series of deaths begin to occur around his presence , and their daughter Anna begins to have suspicions of David being connected to the deaths .   The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17 , 2014 , following a release in the United States on September 17 , 2014 and the United Kingdom on September 5 , 2014 . Critical reception was largely positive , with general praise towards Stevens ' role and Wingard 's direction .