Comingsoon.net has scoured through film history to determine the greatest directorial debuts. Check out our picks in the gallery below!
A director’s first film can make or break their career. Make a stunning debut, then you’re likely set for the foreseeable future. Make an unimpressive flop, then you’re likely to work twice as hard to prove to audiences that you have what it takes your second time around. For this reason, it’s all the more amazing when a filmmaker makes a dazzling directorial debut.
In fact, sometimes a director’s first feature is so good that audiences would likely be surprised to find that the film they just saw came from a newbie instead of a seasoned expert. These directors are practically in a league of their own. From a 1941 newspaper picture to a 2017 horror film with darkly comedic social commentary, these are the best directorial debuts in film history.
Directorial debuts
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Badlands (1973)
Terrence Malick’s style is often imitated and never quite replicated. It’s so stunning to see that his signature elements like sweeping shots and breathtaking locations are present even in his directorial debut, 1973’s Badlands.
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Being John Malkovich (1999)
Back in 1999, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman teamed up for the first time with Being John Malkovich. Jonze’s direction combined with Kaufman’s script proved to be a match made in heaven, coming across as something from the minds of two experienced filmmakers instead of two first-timers.
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Blood Simple. (1984)
The Coen Brothers are an essential voice in American filmmaking. The way they cover the Midwestern experience and portray the facets of morality prove to be incredibly influential for all kinds of filmmakers today, and it all started with their first film Blood Simple. back in 1984.
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Citizen Kane (1941)
Orson Welles wasn’t a filmmaker at first—he was actually a theater guy himself before diving headfirst into the feature film business with Citizen Kane in 1941. The fact that many critics consider this to be one of the best movies of all time makes things all the more awe-inspiring.
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Eraserhead (1977)
David Lynch’s first film, 1977’s Eraserhead, took the filmmaker half a decade to perfect. Lynch lived on the set he constructed from anything he could get his hands on in the outer reaches of the American Film Institute’s campus, filming during the day and sleeping at night. It’s a one-of-a-kind film, remaining one of the very best American movies and one of the greatest directorial debuts over 40 years later.
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Ex Machina (2014)
Alex Garland’s sci-fi drama Ex Machina has the look and the feel of a film that arrives later in a director’s career, not at the start of it. If his second film Annihilation is any indication, he’s got nowhere to go but up.
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Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele got his start in sketch comedy as one half of the comedic duo Key & Peele, a coupling that dates back all the way to his and Keegan-Michael Key’s MadTV days in the early 2000s. His career trajectory is amazing—he’s now directing films that absolutely stun audiences, starting with 2017’s Get Out.
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Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Quentin Tarantino’s first feature did a perfect job introducing audiences to him and his very particular stylings. Reservoir Dogs debuted at the Sundance Film Festival back in 1992, proving to be so impressive that Tarantino continues to make films well into his 50s.
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Synecdoche, New York (2008)
While Spike Jonze did a great job with Charlie Kaufman’s scripts for Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, nothing compares to Kaufman’s ability to direct his own work starting back with 2008’s Synecdoche, New York. Kaufman’s writing is so abstract, it makes sense that the guy who wrote it should be the best one to direct it. It’s an astounding directorial debut through and through.
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The 400 Blows (1959)
Another classic, The 400 Blows has the look and the feel of a professionally-made feature film. Writer-director François Truffaut started out as a film critic, which might explain why his first film has the skill of a masterful director.
