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As directorial debuts go, these really are the best of the best in that department.
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00:00Filmmaking is not an easy feat by any means, and that is especially evident when it comes
00:04to making your first movie. With that in mind, it's common practice in Hollywood that most
00:10filmmakers only continue to improve with the more experience they gain, but it's not uncommon for
00:15some to hit the nail on the head on their first go. An abundance of films developed over the 20th
00:21century, such as Charles Lawton's The Night of the Hunter, Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men,
00:25and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, to name only a handful, make that abundantly clear.
00:31So what about the best within the 21st century? Well, there's plenty more where that came from.
00:36I'm Ewan, you're watching War Culture, and here are the 10 Best Directorial Debuts of the 21st Century
00:42so far. 10. Ex Machina
00:45British writer and director Alex Garland's sci-fi thriller Ex Machina garnered critical acclaim when
00:51it was released back in 2014. Ex Machina is a claustrophobic tale exploring the relationship
00:57between humans and artificial intelligence, and how initial curiosity can lead to devastating
01:03consequences. It should be said that the picture doesn't just feature within this list due to that
01:08unforgettable dancing scene, but seriously, who knew Oscar Isaac had moves like that in his locker?
01:13Ex Machina is creepy, gripping, and keeps you hooked through immense suspense. Inhabiting a genre that
01:20historically has big money backing behind it with a mere budget of only 15 million dollars,
01:25Ex Machina is an intimate and prescient take on subject matter that we are going to have to
01:30reckon with in the years to come. 9. The Babadook
01:34If it's in a word or it's in luck, you can't get rid of The Babadook. Jennifer
01:38Ken's 2014 horror movie The Babadook will surely go down as one of the all-time great directorial debuts,
01:45a perfect meditation on grief and depression led by two great performances from Essie Davis and Noah
01:52Wiseman, all punctuated menacingly by the eponymous creature itself. Kent's low-budget indie horror,
01:59adapted from their own short film Monster, which she developed in 2005, focuses on a young widow and
02:05her traumatized child as they adjust to life without their husband and father respectively. Out of nowhere,
02:11a mysterious-looking children's book appears at their house, telling the story of The Babadook,
02:17a pallid Dickensian-looking monster that terrorizes those who discover its existence.
02:23What follows is a lesson in subliminal terror. The Babadook lingers on the periphery of every frame,
02:29grief and trauma given metaphysical form. It's a truly superb debut, and I would argue the definitive
02:37genre text on all the awful feelings we carry with us when someone passes away. Because,
02:42for all that The Babadook is a blisteringly scary time, it also has one of the most triumphant and
02:48uplifting horror movie endings. We might not be able to excise grief entirely, but as The Babadook shows
02:54us, if we can make peace with it, then we can all learn to live again. 8. Hereditary
03:00Harry Aster has quickly become one of the big vanguards of the horror genre over the last several
03:06years. Aster's direction traps the audience through long takes and wide shots that work
03:10in tandem to exhibit unsettling imagery, from which the viewer is subsequently unable to escape.
03:17Hereditary itself is a wild ride that explores ancestry, witchcraft, and Satanism through a modern
03:23day American family who face a horrifying fate their lineage bestowed onto them. The movie is evenly
03:30blood-curdling and spine-chilling, boasting standout performances, in particular from Toni Collette
03:36and Alex Wolfe, with the former well and truly robbed of an Oscar nomination for her efforts.
03:417. John Wick John Wick changed the game when it released
03:45in 2014. Directed by veteran stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski, with uncredited work by fellow stuntman
03:52David Leitch, although not the strongest of the now four-picture saga, the first John Wick burst onto the
03:58scene and effectively acted as an education to Hollywood on how to do action well, rubbishing the
04:04shaky cam of the post-born era, as well as quick-cut editing to hide bad choreography, and instead
04:09giving the viewer a full picture of the carnage unfolding on screen. All with a career-best Keanu
04:15Reeves showing exactly why he's such a great performer. The first John Wick does lag in some respects
04:22behind its sequels, which up the ante in regards to action and the overall lore of Derek Kolstad's
04:28world, but it's a tight and efficient movie anchored by a truly brilliant turn from Reeves,
04:33who is perfectly suited to the screenplay's mix of tragedy, levity, and relentless action.
04:39The true star of the film, however, is Stahelski's direction. Two decades of working as a stunt
04:44coordinator trained his eye for action, and being able to marshal that as a director led to one of the
04:49purest genre efforts we've ever gotten. It's not my personal favorite of the franchise,
04:54but what a great way to announce yourself as a director!
04:586. Aftersun
05:00There aren't many films made in the last two decades that hit harder and cut
05:04deeper than Charlotte Wells' directorial debut, Aftersun. Starring a career-best
05:10performance to date from Paul Mescal, as well as introducing many to the wickedly talented Frankie
05:15Corio, Aftersun is a real gem of a movie. A dark coming-of-age drama, Aftersun explores the loving
05:22but complex relationship between a father and a daughter, as her now-adult self attempts to put
05:28the pieces back together regarding how much she truly knew him and about the pain he was suffering
05:33with on their last holiday together. Aftersun is undoubtedly one of the best films we've received
05:38in recent years, making its one Academy Award nomination all the more perplexing.
05:435. Nightcrawler
05:45Nightcrawler's exploration of crime journalism depicts a monstrous and immoral profession confined
05:51with an unforgiving Los Angeles. He's as despicable and dislikeable as they come,
05:56but Jake Gyllenhaal's Lewis Bloom is just a physical embodiment of the inhumane domain he inhabits
06:02for the audience to detest and, twistedly, become enchanted by. Nightcrawler offers a seasoning of
06:08strong supporting performances from Bill Paxton, Rene Russo and Rhys Ahmed that stand out amongst
06:14others, but it is Gyllenhaal who studies the ship so that it sails most smoothly. However,
06:19this was only made possible due to Dan Gilroy's wonderful direction and Oscar-nominated script
06:24that allowed Gyllenhaal unlimited access to investigate LA's deepest and darkest secrets.
06:294. Michael Clayton
06:32From one Gilroy brother to another now, and yeah, 2007 is kind of one of the best movie
06:38years we've ever gotten. For a brief moment in the late 2000s, we got a spirited resurgence of
06:44artful, independently crafted features like No Country for Old Men, Zodiac, There Will Be Blood,
06:50and the assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. Truly a banger year, and one of the
06:55best efforts from it was Michael Clayton, which marked the directorial debut of one Tony Gilroy.
07:01Years before he rocked up to the galaxy far, far away and stole all the other Star Wars movies and
07:06shows lunch money with Rogue One and Andor, Gilroy had cut his teeth as a screenwriter on the Bourne
07:12series and a few other efforts from the late 90s. However, it was Michael Clayton that truly
07:18illustrated the extent of Gilroy's talents, a film that he both wrote and directed. Starring George
07:24Clooney as the titular character, Michael Clayton is a stylish, moody, and gripping legal thriller that
07:30dives into the underbelly of the agricultural industry and the dark arts of the legal profession.
07:35It's one of Clooney's finest ever performances, with the actor perfectly selling Clayton's in the
07:40turmoil and the high-stakes stress of the conspiracy being unraveled. And he's matched perfectly on the
07:46opposite side by Tilda Swinton, who plays a lawyer working for the agricultural giant in Clayton's
07:51sights. Truly fierce filmmaking, and one that exemplifies why 2007 was such a great year for the medium.
07:583. Pig Pig might be one of the most slept-on movies we've gotten over the last decade.
08:05Starring Nicolas Cage as a reclusive truffle pig farmer whose prized companion is abducted one night,
08:11Pig also marked the directorial debut of Michael Sonoski. Sonoski's film is beautifully paced,
08:17and tells a lyrical, heartbreakingly good story anchored by one of Cage's finest ever performances. A brilliant
08:24reminder of his unique talent, having been afforded ideal space by the director and screenwriter Vanessa
08:30Brock to do his stuff. Pig is such an accomplished piece of work that it almost beggars belief that
08:35it's Sonoski's directorial and screenwriting debut. As things currently stand, it's my favorite film
08:41of the 2020s. A beautifully affecting piece of cinema that dives into loss and legacy, and the burdens they
08:48can bring. 2. In Bruges
08:51Martin McDonagh has to be one of the greatest filmmakers of the last two decades, and as far
08:55as directorial debuts go, they don't get much better than In Bruges. The film follows the aftermath of
09:00a botched job with hitmen Ray and Ken, expertly portrayed by Irish double-act Colin Farrell and
09:07Brendan Gleeson, who find themselves stuck in the rather dull city of Bruges while they await ramifications
09:12from Ray Fiennes as Harry, their psychotic boss. In Bruges exhibits McDonagh's trademark balance of
09:18comedy and tragedy that we've all grown accustomed to. Many factors play into the film's favour and
09:23make it as popular as it is, but one overwhelming reason that literally can't be overstated is the
09:29on-screen chemistry shared and showcased by Farrell and Gleeson. Ray and Ken are the total opposites of
09:36one another, but that's what makes them work so well as a duo. Ray's temperamental nature is
09:41contradicted by Ken's thick skin, making them the idyllic yin and yang for one another. That's to make
09:46it work, In Bruges requires Farrell and Gleeson to bring their respective A-games to the table,
09:52and they all but deliver on that front as McDonagh exchanges Bruges' characteristic piece for purgatory.
09:581. Get Out If you'd asked folks 10 years ago if they thought Jordan Peele would go on to become
10:04one of the key innovators in the horror genre and develop some of the best films of the decade,
10:09they would have been surprised. Peele was a beloved figure on the comedy scene for years before he
10:15swapped sketch routines to the director's chair, and while talented, hadn't really intimated the
10:20feats he was capable of. This is part of what made his 2017 directorial debut, Get Out, such a
10:27phenomenon. Peele's Get Out is a genius, fluid horror satire and arguably the most essential film
10:34in the 2010s, a black-led production that takes aim at racism and the polite insidiousness in which it
10:40pervades in wide spaces. Drawing upon the Stepford Wives and Rosemary's Baby as inspiration, Peele's
10:46film is both surreal and unsettling, and a perfect announcement to the world that a new horror king
10:52was in town. And those were the 10 best directorial debut films of the 21st century so far. What have your
10:59favorite debuts the last two decades been? Share your thoughts and recommendations down in the comments
11:03below, as there are a bunch I know I like, but didn't make the cut. Don't forget to like the video
11:08if you enjoyed it, and hey, if you're new here and fancy more, why not hit the subscribe button too?
11:13Either way, thanks a bunch for watching, I've been Ewan, and I'll catch you next time. Bye!
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