The 12 Best Directorial Debuts of the 2010s

By YPB Team

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

Get Out — ranked #11
Get Out
Jordan Peele 2017 debut turning the meet-the-parents premise into a sharp social horror film.
1000pts
The Florida Project — ranked #22
The Florida Project
Sean Baker 2017 debut following the lives of motel residents on the outskirts of Walt Disney World.
897pts
A Quiet Place — ranked #33
A Quiet Place
John Krasinski 2018 debut setting a family survival horror in a world where sound attracts blind monsters.
897pts
Sound of Metal — ranked #44
Sound of Metal
Darius Marder 2019 debut about a drummer losing his hearing and grappling with silence and identity.
754pts
Hereditary — ranked #55
Hereditary
Ari Aster 2018 debut that redefined elevated horror with a grieving family and unseen supernatural forces.
692pts
The Witch — ranked #66
The Witch
Robert Eggers 2015 debut following a Puritan family persecuted by a supernatural force in 17th century New England.
692pts
Short Term 12 — ranked #77
Short Term 12
Destin Daniel Cretton 2013 debut about counselors at a foster care facility for troubled teens.
538pts
Beasts of the Southern Wild — ranked #88
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Benh Zeitlin 2012 debut following a young girl navigating a flooded Louisiana bayou with fearless poetry.
1pts
Blue Ruin — ranked #99
Blue Ruin
Jeremy Saulnier 2013 debut about a drifter pursuing a revenge mission that spirals out of control.
1pts
Ex Machina — ranked #1010
Ex Machina
Alex Garland 2014 directorial debut about a coder who evaluates an AI in a secluded research facility.
1pts
It Follows — ranked #1111
It Follows
David Robert Mitchell 2014 debut using a sexually transmitted supernatural entity as a slow-burn dread metaphor.
1pts
Whiplash — ranked #1212
Whiplash
Damien Chazelle 2014 debut about a jazz drummer under the terrorizing instruction of a conservatory instructor.
1pts

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