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The 20 Best Breakthrough Directors Of 2015

Dope

Rick Famuyiwa — “Dope”

So yes, we’re really stretching the term “breakthrough” to its limit here, but Sundance sensation “Dope” made such a splash for director Famuyiwa, and in such an unusual way, that it feels like it belongs here. But perhaps it’s more a break-across; Famiyuma has already directed three other features, “The Wood” with Taye Diggs and Omar Epps,Brown Sugar” with Diggs, Sanaa Lathan and Mos Def, and the poorly received “Our Family Wedding” with Forest Whitaker and America Ferrara, each technically at a much higher budget and with much higher-profile names attached. But it’s the low-budget, no-star “Dope” that really seems to have resonated, with Famuyiwa abandoning the romantic comedy vibe of his previous titles and turning in an energetic, youthful genre-mash-up instead. Notably absent the kind of condescension that can occur when an experienced filmmaker takes on a high school story, here Famuyiwa doesn’t just reorient the high school film around the experience of a young black self-confessed geek, but riffs on social and class issues, and the riddles of perception versus reality during those difficult teenage years too. It’s terrific fun, but it also makes a point, while minting breakout stars of most of its young cast and reinventing Famuyiwa as an indie filmmaker to watch.

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Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz — “Goodnight Mommy”

Anyone with a passing familiarity with modern Austrian cinema outside of Michael Haneke‘s work will not be surprised that arthouse horror “Goodnight Mommy” is produced by Ulrich Seidl, whose own “Paradise” trilogy, as well as 2015’s terrific, underseen semi-doc “In The Basement,” share a certain chilly formalist distance with Fiala and Franz’ movie. But this neat little horror is also its own thing: Fiala and Franz have worked together once before on documentary “Kern” and Franz has co-written those aforementioned Seidl titles and more (they are married), but “Goodnight Mommy” shows the directors both embracing genre and going further with it than you might at first believe. There’s a kind of narrative fearlessness on display here that is the film’s real secret weapon, especially for those who might guess some of the twists and revelations ahead of time, and a pleasing, clean detachment in the aesthetic even when what it’s showing is beyond unsettling. The film tells the eerie story of isolated twin brothers who begin to suspect that their mother, swathed in bandages after cosmetic surgery, is not actually their mother at all, and the taut minimal dialogue complements the elegant filmmaking and delivers an assured fiction debut. Best of all, Fiala and Franz are absolutely uncompromising in following their enigmatic story to its most ruthless and extreme conclusion; where so many horrors peter out at the ending, theirs gets nastier and nastier without ever losing a shred of that tight, strict control.

Deniz Gamze Erguven — “Mustang”

A delightful debut that’s all the more valuable for giving a voice to an underrepresented segment of the female Turkish population, Erguven’s debut directorial feature (she has a few credits as an actor and a couple of short films prior to this) is a lovely story of spirited girlhood and rebellion. It was co-written with fellow 2015 breakout Alice Winocour, whose second directorial feature, “Disorder,” starring Mathias Schoenaerts and Diane Kruger, played in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes 2014, while “Mustang” was selected for Directors Fortnight. Erguven’s film, told from the perspective of a quintet of sisters forced to live under the repressive patriarchy of an isolated rural Turkish village, is a not just a moving condemnation of the more conservative elements in Turkish society and their oppression of women, but is also surprisingly funny, even breezy at times, as much a celebration of sisterhood as it is a lament at its suppression. That these lighter textures of mischief and spiritiness can be found in a story that ultimately sees most of these young women bartered off into marriage like chattel or worse, is a testament to Erguven’s sensitivity and intelligence behind the camera, and to the uniformly winning performances she elicits from her largely non-professional cast, especially Günes Sensoy as the youngest and most irrepressible of the sisters.

Ex Machina

Alex Garland — “Ex Machina”

As with Bill Pohlad and Joel Edgerton, Garland is another established name on the list who broke through into direction in 2015. Already a bestselling novelist and one half of a long collaborative partnership with Danny Boyle that included writing screenplays for “28 Days Later” and “Sunshine” after Boyle adapted Garland’s “The Beach” in 2000, Garland’s debut is unsurprisingly a talky, high-concept sci-fi story set in a contained environment, essentially functioning as a three-hander. But what is surprising is just how confident Garland seems, getting three great turns from his hotter-than-hot triumvirate (Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander) and displaying an eye for an eerily calm composition (also thanks to DP Rob Hardy‘s elegant, glistening photography). He also addresses what was perhaps the major critique of much of his writing to date, in which after promising set-ups, the final acts have occasionally felt anticlimactic or unconvincing: here, he preserves the story’s intimacy and tension right up to the very end, culminating in an enigmatic, surprising but very satisfying denouement. Also featuring the dance sequence of the year from Isaac (fingers crossed Poe Dameron will also boogie for our pleasure), it’s no surprise that Garland is already at work on his next directorial feature “Annihilation,” due to star Natalie Portman.

Me And Earl And the Dying Girl

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon — “Me & Earl & The Dying Girl”

Working his way up from PA to second-unit director under such luminaries as Martin Scorsese, Nora Ephron and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon then became a protege of TV wizard Ryan Murphy, helming episodes of “Glee” and “American Horror Story,” which won him plaudits and an Emmy nod. He made a rather damply received directorial debut with meta-horror remake “The Town That Dreaded Sundown,” but followed it up immediately with this Sundancier-than-thou indie darling, based on Jesse Andrews‘ adaptation of his own novel. The film fared surprisingly poorly at the box office, and there may not be 100% accord about it within the Playlist ranks (is there ever?), but even its biggest detractors can concede that Gomez-Rejon is going to be big on the back of it. As a hugely polished, well-shot (by Chung-hoon Chung) and appealingly presented package, it’s the type of calling card that Hollywood tends to respond to, and indeed Gomez-Rejon’s name has been in starrier company of late —first attaching to (then dropping out from) Will Smith vehicle “Collateral Beauty” and also signing on for “The Current War,” a prestigey-sounding project due to star Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. I love the way the readers of this site get so personally affronted that the writers\’ choices don\’t correspond exactly with their own. Chill out everyone, it\’s called an opinion! They have one, you have one, we all have one – and the beautiful thing is, none of them are wrong! Wahhey!!!

  2. In the tiled photos heading this article you have a photo from the French film "Girlhood" but nowhere in this article do I see anything about that movie or its director.

  3. This is bizarre that you would put Sam Taylor Johnson on this list – fact is the movie would have been high profile & make a lot at the box office NO MATTER WHO DIRECTED IT. It was one of the most anticipated films because of the book. Not to mention, you gave it an awful review, all critics did. You all said how awful the chemistry was – wasnt this the only redeeming point of 50 shades?? Isnt this one of the key things a director needs to do – direct their actors?? And so I am baffled as to why it proves that she has potential as a director yet (even her first was only "decent" according to you). So explain to me the reasoning behind putting her above directors who have actually shown some sort of unique talent? Would\’ve taken anyone in your sublist before her. Particularly Sebastian Schipper who really did something daring and impressive – deserves recognition far more than just another director taking a pay cheque from Hollywood.

  4. This is bizarre that you would put Sam Taylor Johnson on this list – fact is the movie would have been high profile & make a lot at the box office NO MATTER WHO DIRECTED IT. It was one of the most anticipated films because of the book. Not to mention, you gave it an awful review, all critics did. You all said how awful the chemistry was – wasnt this the only redeeming point of 50 shades?? Isnt this one of the key things a director needs to do – direct their actors?? And so I am baffled as to why it proves that she has potential as a director yet (even her first was only "decent" according to you). So explain to me the reasoning behind putting her above directors who have actually shown some sort of unique talent? Would\’ve taken anyone in your sublist before her. Particularly Sebastian Schipper who really did something daring and impressive – deserves recognition far more than just another director taking a pay cheque from Hollywood.

  5. Since the Title of this list was:
    The 20 Best Breakthrough Directors Of 2015
    I didn\’t notice and Qualifiers in your article so What in Hell does "Alex Garland is another (admittedly, white and male) name on the list"
    You 2 are not Biased or Racist much, are you ?
    So you should be off the List if you are not the PC
    Racial/Gender/current correct Demographic ?

  6. Since the Title of this list was:
    The 20 Best Breakthrough Directors Of 2015
    I didn’t notice and Qualifiers in your article so What in Hell does "Alex Garland is another (admittedly, white and male) name on the list"
    You 2 are not Biased or Racist much, are you ?
    So you should be off the List if you are not the PC
    Racial/Gender/current correct Demographic ?

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