A directional backlight unit includes: a light source configured to emit light; a light guide plate including: an incident surface on which light emitted by the light source is incident, an emission surface from which the light incident on the incident surface is emitted, and a reflective surface facing the emission surface; a reflective polarizer provided on the emission surface and configured to transmit a portion of the light as first polarized light having a first polarization direction and reflect another portion of the light as second polarized light having a second polarization direction and being perpendicular to the first polarized light; and a diffractor configured to diffract the first polarized light transmitted through the reflective polarizer toward a plurality of viewing zones.