10 Best Indie Directors to Break Big in the 21st Century (2024)

The world of directing can be as varied as the films it produces. Sofia Coppola, for example, stated she would like to spend her whole life making films with smaller budgets and avoiding any major studios, preferring the freedom that buys her. Her father, Francis Ford Coppola, has spent a large chunk of his life directing big-budget movies but has no problem moving back into a smaller realm. Coppola just recently self-funded Megalopolis, a sci-fi epic he has never been able to get the studios to back.

Every director has the choice to work independently, on a larger scale, or to spend their time working on a TV series. Many choose a mix of all three. Some may start out independently and then, once they have been widely recognized for the quality of their work, will take the opportunity to make larger movies, both in budget and scale. Five of the ten directors listed here have been picked up by Marvel and helmed giant MCU movies. All ten are directors who have grabbed the world's attention and kept it locked in.

10 Cate Shortland

'Somersault' (2004)

Cate Shortland broke onto the scene with Somersault, following a young girl dealing with confused sexuality, longing for companionship, and already missing the simpleness of youth. With each film since, she has continued to focus on a woman's perspective while taking bigger risks in setting and complication. In Lore, she brings the viewer to Germany in its most infamous time. A young sister must help her family navigate terrain and truth alike.

With Berlin Syndrome, Shortland took audiences on a horror ride as a young woman faces one of the world's most sinister evils, a violent man. The courage and skill in showing such distressing situations put Shortland on the radar for Black Widow. Given the context of the character Black Widow's history, and the director's talent for showcasing a woman's story, it seems only logical that Shortland was the one to pick. Her next project, Three Women, has had a little trouble finding it's home, but given Shortland's record, will be well worth the watch.

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9 Ari Aster

'Hereditary' (2018)

Some directors just naturally come out swinging, and Ari Aster is one of them. Showcasing incredible performances from Milly Shapiro and Toni Collette, Hereditary is a horror film unafraid to make strong choices and let the audience take it as they will. Considering it became A24's highest-grossing film (until Everything Everywhere All at Once broke that record), it's safe to say audiences were satisfied. He followed that up with Midsommar, starring Florence Pugh, in the beautiful setting of Sweden. That idyllic setting served as an artful contrast to the visceral events of the film.

His most recent swing, Beau is Afraid, a fever dream starring Joaquin Phoenix, faced some turbulence, receiving mixed reviews and scores from critics and audiences alike. Neither Phoenix nor Aster seem bothered, however, as they are working together again for Eddington. While the plot is being kept under wraps, its cast includes Austin Butler,Emma Stone, and Pedro Pascal.

Hereditary

R

Horror

Psychological

Supernatural

Release Date

June 8, 2018

Director

Ari Aster

Cast

Toni Collette , Gabriel Byrne , Alex Wolff , Milly Shapiro , Ann Dowd , Zachary Arthur

Runtime

127 minutes

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8 Nia DaCosta

'Little Woods' (2018)

Nia DaCosta directed her first full-length feature, with Tessa Thompson and Lily James starring. Little Woods is a drama highlighting a pair of sisters as they navigate difficulties with housing, the ultimate choice of whether to keep an unexpected baby and the challenges of the healthcare system. DaCosta keeps you engaged with intense drama and more action than you might expect, courtesy of some drug smuggling.

Little Woods earned her the chance to work on Candyman next, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a turn into horror, and directing a sequel, as the film did not serve as a reboot but a continuation of the Candyman films that came before it. It was then that the MCU nabbed her up to helm the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels, with Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris, who had worked with DaCosta on Candyman. Her next project brings Thompson back in a telling of the 1981 play Hedda Gabler.

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7 Robert Eggers

'The Witch' (2015)

Robert Eggers made his mark with The Witch, a slow burn built on the tension of inner conflict in a family. Eggers gives the characters room to breathe and evolve while keeping a steady pace and a build-up of intrigue to keep viewers guessing. This is a similar thread for The Lighthouse, a film that is largely a vehicle for exhibiting the awesome talents of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, who've come a long way since Twilight. Shot entirely in black and white, The Lighthouse is a cerebral thriller that defies expectations and explanations.

What followed in The Northman was a defiance of its own. A cross between mythic symbolism and brutal realism, The Northman is a haunting odyssey, the story of a Viking prince's journey for revenge. This flirtation with fables and horror has him taking on the tale of Nosferatu next, a version of Dracula that will star Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, and Lily-Rose Depp.

The Witch

R

Horror

Mystery

Release Date

January 27, 2015

Director

Robert Eggers

Cast

Anya Taylor-Joy , Ralph Ineson , Kate Dickie , Harvey Scrimshaw , Ellie Grainger , Lucas Dawson

Runtime

92

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6 Ana Lily Amirpour

'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' (2014)

Ana Lily Amirpour's A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is the world's first and, so far, only Iranian vampire western. Shot in black and white, it inverts the idea that a girl alone at night is vulnerable and instead proposes that she is the one to be afraid of. It made waves at many Independent Film Festivals, including Sundance. Her next two, The Bad Batch and Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon gained attention and nominations at the Venice Film Festival.

Her style lends itself to the macabre, and Amirpour has directed episodes of many mind-bending TV series such as Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, Jordan Peele's revival of The Twilight Zone, and Castle Rock, a series based on Stephen King's literary universe. Her next project, Please Give Me You, is being kept tightly under wraps, but if her record is any indicator, it'll be worth keeping an eye out for.

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5 Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

'Half Nelson' (2006)

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are an interesting creative duo. They write and direct most of their projects together and get credited equally, though, for Half Nelson Fleck is credited with directing. They have, however, shared credit on the majority of their follow-up films so they will both stay credited here. There's a common theme of addictions and vices woven through the filmography. From Half Nelson's drug-addicted junior high school teacher to a couple of buddies gambling their way through the south, Boden and Fleck have shown their versatility and their flare for a certain type of humor.

Their style of humor often hugs the boundaries of inappropriate. It's Kind of a Funny Story takes you to a psychiatric ward in order to discuss mental health with a necessary bluntness that both takes it seriously but doesn't forget to laugh. The MCU picked them up for Captain Marvel, Marvel's first woman-led superhero movie. It made a billion dollars at the box office, one of the few women-led movies of all time to do so. Coming later this year is Freaky Tales, an anthology with a star-studded cast.

Half Nelson

Run Time

102 minutes

Director

Ryan Fleck

Release Date

September 22, 2006

Actors

Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie

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4 Destin Daniel Cretton

'Short Term 12' (2013)

Destin Daniel Cretton grabbed the audience's attention with Short Term 12, starring Brie Larson as a counselor at a center for at-risk youth. The film gained a multitude of film festival nominations and wins, including The Independent Spirit Awards and SXSW. The Glass Castle may not have earned as many accolades, but it showcased Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts as nonconformist parents who, rather than try to give their kids material possessions, instead focused on teaching them originality and rebelliousness.

With Just Mercy, he added Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx to the mix, telling the story of Ryan Stevenson and his pursuit of justice for the wrongfully convicted. In each film, Cretton manages to handle delicate subject matter, pointing a lens at stories that might otherwise go overlooked. This made him the perfect choice to direct the MCU's first Asian-led superhero story, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The film was a roaring success and currently holds a 91% critic score and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans can look forward to his Shang-Chi sequel and Wonder Man series coming soon.

Short Term 12

R

Drama

Documentary

Release Date

August 23, 2013

Director

Destin Cretton

Cast

Brie Larson , John Gallagher Jr. , Kaitlyn Dever , Stephanie Beatriz , Rami Malek , Alex Calloway

Runtime

96

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3 Chloe Zhao

'Songs My Brothers Taught Me' (2015)

Chloe Zhao's first headlining film was Songs My Father Taught Me, which debuted with award nominations at both the Cannes Film Festival of 2015 and the Independent Spirit Awards of 2016. It tracked a struggling family on a reservation and a boy's fork in the road. Does he stay and help his family find stability, or does he chase his dreams in a big city? In her follow-up, The Rider, cowboy Brady must face his own choice: get back on the horse and risk it all, or choose the safety of recognizing his limitations.

Nomadland keeps a familiar background in the country, but this time it shifts to a woman's view. Frances McDormand's Fern finds joy in the life of a nomad, free to seek out and savor nature in a life unshackled by society's structures. Nomadland won three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress for McDormand, and Best Director for Zhao, making her the second woman and first woman of color to win the award. After entering the world of Marvel to direct the ensemble feature Eternals, she's stepping back in time to focus on the wife of Shakespeare in Hamnet.

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2 Alex Garland

'Ex Machina' (2014)

Alex Garland started out as a writer with films like The Beach and Dredd under his belt. His first attempt at directing, Ex Machina, was a beast of a debut. Starring Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina examines artificial intelligence and humanity's fear and need for control, all of which are relevant today. He composed the film with a perfect tone of eeriness, the kind of unnerving feeling you get when seeing the uncanny valley. It was nominated for two Oscars for Garland's writing and its visual effects, which it took the win for.

He followed up with Annihilation, which he adapted from Jeff Vandermeer's fantastical sci-fi series, The Southern Reach Trilogy. He brought Isaac back, this time joining Natalie Portman and embarking on a journey into the alien abstract. It takes a special eye to be able to translate Vandermeer's incredibly unique world to the big screen, and Garland was up to the task. His latest, Civil War, is available for streaming now.

Ex Machina

R

Sci-Fi

Drama

Thriller

Release Date

April 24, 2015

Director

Alex Garland

Cast

Domhnall Gleeson , Corey Johnson , Oscar Isaac , Alicia Vikander , Sonoya Mizuno , Claire Selby

Runtime

108 minutes

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1 Yorgos Lanthimos

'The Lobster' (2015)

Yorgos Lanthimos has a style that is both distinctive and chameleonlike. The Lobster is a black comedy and a dystopian love story about our fears of ending up alone. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a tight, anxious thriller, while The Favourite is a side-splitting period piece. Usually involving either Colin Farrell or Emma Stone, Lanthimos tells tales in a way that is as likely to make you laugh as cry.

All of his films have earned various nominations. Poor Things earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Directing and Best Motion Picture of the Year and won Stone a Best Actress Award. Poor Things, starring Stone, is based on a novel by Alasdair Gray that draws its inspiration from Frankenstein's monster. Stone has already worked on another film with Lanthimos, Kinds of Kindness, and signed on for their next, Bugonia, before the first was released. An anthology story followed by a modern-day kidnapping heist, Lanthimos continues to evolve and defy expectations.

The Lobster (2015)

R

Drama

Romance

Sci-Fi

Release Date

October 15, 2015

Director

Yorgos Lanthimos

Cast

Colin Farrell , Olivia Colman , Rachel Weisz , Jessica Barden

Runtime

119 minutes

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