What’s the future of American cinema going to be like? Some say it looks bleak, but there are still some young filmmakers trying to prevent that fate from happening.
Despite the studio system not being much interested in giving the greenlight on much creative freedom, or room for original thought, there are still a scant few distributors out there trying to take up the slack (NEON, A24).
Now, think of an American director who has had his or her film debut, at the earliest, since 2010. Have these filmmakers banked on the promise of their debut and gone on to build an exciting career?
In my opinion, the best first films of the last 10 years have been Lazslo Nemes’ “Son of Saul”, Trey Edward Shults’ “Krisha”, Ari Aster’s “Hereditary”, Kogonada’s “Columbus,” Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing.”
Other good ones …
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin)
Pariah (Dee Rees)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)
Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy)
Ex-Machina (Alex Garland)
The Witch (Robert Eggers)
Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley)
Raw (Julia Ducournau)
Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven)
Atlantics (Mati Diop)
What have been the best first films this decade? I can’t say many standout, and I’m stretching it by including a few here, but these 12 should suffice for now:
Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages”, Chile Okuno’s “Watcher”, Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun”, Zach Cregger’s “Barbarian,” Dea Kulumbegashvili‘s “Beginning”, Maggie Gylenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter”, Rebecca Hall’s “Passing”, Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal”, Florian Zeller’s “The Father”, Emma Seligman’s “Shiva Baby”, Mimi Cave’s “Fresh” and Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer.”
Having an insurance director is not uncommon in Hollywood. Aging filmmakers, in case a health issue arises, sometimes need to have one. It seems like that’s what might have occurred on “What Happens at Night.”