The 12 Best Directorial Debuts of the 2010s

Assured, genre-bending first features that proved a debut can land like a veteran's masterpiece. Which one wins?

1. 1
   Get Out

   Jordan Peele 2017 debut turning the meet-the-parents premise into a sharp social horror film.
   1000pts
2. 2
   The Florida Project

   Sean Baker 2017 debut following the lives of motel residents on the outskirts of Walt Disney World.
   897pts
3. 3
   A Quiet Place

   John Krasinski 2018 debut setting a family survival horror in a world where sound attracts blind monsters.
   897pts
4. 4
   Sound of Metal

   Darius Marder 2019 debut about a drummer losing his hearing and grappling with silence and identity.
   754pts
5. 5
   Hereditary

   Ari Aster 2018 debut that redefined elevated horror with a grieving family and unseen supernatural forces.
   692pts
6. 6
   The Witch

   Robert Eggers 2015 debut following a Puritan family persecuted by a supernatural force in 17th century New England.
   692pts
7. 7
   Short Term 12

   Destin Daniel Cretton 2013 debut about counselors at a foster care facility for troubled teens.
   538pts
8. 8
   Beasts of the Southern Wild

   Benh Zeitlin 2012 debut following a young girl navigating a flooded Louisiana bayou with fearless poetry.
   1pts
9. 9
   Blue Ruin

   Jeremy Saulnier 2013 debut about a drifter pursuing a revenge mission that spirals out of control.
   1pts
10. 10
    Ex Machina

    Alex Garland 2014 directorial debut about a coder who evaluates an AI in a secluded research facility.
    1pts
11. 11
    It Follows

    David Robert Mitchell 2014 debut using a sexually transmitted supernatural entity as a slow-burn dread metaphor.
    1pts
12. 12
    Whiplash

    Damien Chazelle 2014 debut about a jazz drummer under the terrorizing instruction of a conservatory instructor.
    1pts