The 20 best debut films from iconic directors

Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust can be quite challenging, with its heavy use of dialect and its nonlinear story, but it has many rewards for those who are willing to stick with it. What makes this lyrical take on Gullah family and identity all the more striking is the fact that it was Dash’s feature debut. Even more remarkable is that this was the first time a theatrical feature directed by an African American woman received a general release in the United States.

Spike Lee has a well-deserved reputation for being one of his generation’s most idiosyncratic filmmakers, and he proved that with his debut, She’s Gotta Have It. The movie was remarkable for a whole host of reasons. In addition to opening doors for African-American representation, it also showed that Lee was a filmmaker of exceptional vision, as he was involved in almost every aspect of its production. It made an astounding amount of money for a low-budget indie project and helped establish Lee as a true filmmaker to watch.

Steve McQueen has repeatedly shown he is a director with a unique emotional vision, and his films tend to pack an emotional punch. This was true from the very beginning, as his debut Hunger  demonstrates. In addition to featuring an electrifying performance from lead actor Michael Fassbender, who portrays Bobby Sands on a hunger strike, it is a technical marvel, with one particular scene that is one 17-minute shot. It’s the kind of film that once seen is never forgotten. 

Kevin Smith established himself as one of the voices of the slacker generation with Clerks, his 1994 debut. In addition to introducing Smith to the world, it also gave the world Jay and Silent Bob, who would become established characters within Smith’s fictional universe. It’s remarkably true to life, and it demonstrated Smith’s ability to tell a good story on a small budget. It was not only a success in its own right but also spawned an entire franchise, the most recent installment of which was released in 2022.

Charles Laughton was best known as an actor, and he directed only one film, the noirish, Southern Gothic The Night of the Hunter. It’s a shame that this was his only directorial effort, as it’s an atmospheric and at times terrifying film, thanks in large part to the intense performance from Robert Mitchum, who plays a psychopath set on getting a large sum of money, even if it means murdering two children. In addition to being terrifying in its own right, it’s also a remarkably faithful adaptation of the original novel by Davis Grubb.

Coming from a family of actors, it was probably inevitable that Rob Reiner would go into show business himself. After starting in acting, he moved into directing and made quite a splash with This Is Spinal Tap, one of the most noteworthy examples of the ever-popular mockumentary form. It’s one of those films that is both insightful in its engagement with music stardom and quite entertaining. Reiner would go on to become a successful director throughout much of the 1980s and into the 1990s.

Clint Eastwood is one of those actors who excels at everything to which he turns his hand, whether that’s in front of or behind the camera. He certainly made an impression with his directorial debut, Play Misty For Me, in which he also starred. It’s a powerful, tightly woven story of suspense and obsession, and Eastwood gives a great performance, as does his co-star, Jessica Walter. The film is a harbinger of the director’s future efforts, and it showed that he had (and has) a keen eye for what makes a compelling movie.

Sidney Lumet had a keen sense for human drama, and he particularly excelled at crafting gritty social dramas. This was true right out of the gate, and 12 Angry Men is one of the most remarkable and powerful debuts of the 1950s. The movie shows many of the traits that would characterize his later work, and it’s a powerful piece of cinematic storytelling in its own right, holding up a harsh mirror to the realities of postwar America.

Lady Bird is in many ways the perfect meeting of talent, with  Saoirse Ronan starring and Greta Gerwig directing. The film also skillfully blends comedy and drama, with Ronan giving one of the finest performances of her career as a young woman who, naturally, has a fraught relationship with her mother (played by Laurie Metcalf). The film showcased Gerwig’s remarkable talents as both a writer and a director, and it presaged her subsequent big-screen successes, Little Women and Barbie. 

Few directors have had as much of an influence on the zombie movie genre as George Romero. His Night of the Living Dead is a true classic of the genre, using the figure of the zombie to interrogate and explore the anxieties and dread of the late 1960s. The fact that Romero was able to accomplish such a masterpiece of horror filmmaking with his debut is nothing short of astonishing. Though he would go on to direct several more zombie pictures, none of them achieved the stark terror of his first.

With Past Lives, Celine Song demonstrated that she is one of her generation’s most subtle and emotionally resonant directors. It's a story about two friends and their ever-evolving relationship — a fascinating portrait of how people can grow together and apart over the years. It’s the kind of movie that can truly be called poetry in film form, and its restraint — in both storytelling and style — helps make its central drama all the more resonant and affecting. Song would go on to bring a similar touch to her subsequent feature efforts.

Few films have been as influential as The Maltese Falcon, which was one of the first of many that would later be known as film noir.  What makes the movie so remarkable is that it was the directorial debut of John Huston, and he would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most visionary directors. The fact that Huston also wrote the screenplay makes his accomplishment even more remarkable, and it’s easy to see why he would become so famous for his work both in front of and behind the camera.

Dev Patel has repeatedly shown himself to be one of his generation’s most versatile actors, and with Monkey Man, he demonstrated that he is just as adept behind the camera. The film — with its story of a man’s quest to avenge his mother’s death — is brutal and beautiful and violent, and Patel also shines as the main character. Its propulsive story and its kinetic editing create a sense of narrative and character propulsion that keeps the viewer riveted from the first moment to the last.

Though Disney has had its ups and downs over the last decade and a half, there’s no doubt that Moana was a major hit for the studio. It’s easy to see why, since it manages to fit nicely into the Disney princess tradition while also branching out into other cultural traditions, and the same is true of its sequel. In addition to being a genuinely good movie in its own right, Moana 2 marked the directorial debut of David Derrick Jr., who co-directed it with Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller.

If there’s one director of the late 20th and early 21st centuries whose name is synonymous with dynamic historical storytelling, it's Ridley Scott. His flair for the genre was evident in his first film, The Duellists, released in 1977. Based on a short story by Joseph Conrad, it shows many of the features that would characterize Scott’s later works, including his keen eye for action scenes and a powerful, intense humanity that sweeps the viewer up in the tremendous dynamism of history.

After a successful stint at Disney, animator Don Bluth began producing his own films with The Secret of NIMH, which centers on the mouse Mrs. Brisby and her efforts to save her family from a farmer. It’s a beautiful and haunting film, with some of the most gorgeous animation to have emerged from the 1980s. The movie established Bluth as one of the major purveyors of animated entertainment of the decade and helped set the stage for his subsequent successes. 

Sam Raimi has always had an eye for the grotesque and the gory, and he showed that with his directorial debut, The Evil Dead. It manages to strike just the right balance between gory schlock and genuine terror, and it’s easy to see why horror fans have long beloved it. It showed that Raimi definitely had his own unique sense of style, and it helped pave the way for his subsequent career successes, both in the horror genre and beyond.

With Get Out,  Jordan Peele demonstrated that he was one of his generation’s most insightful and talented horror filmmakers. In the film, he takes all of the conventions of horror and uses them to examine the pervasive damage and power of White supremacy in the United States. It’s the kind of horror film that gets right under the viewer’s skin and stays there, and though he has gone on to direct several other excellent horror movies, this one will always stand above the rest.

Quentin Tarantino is one of those directors who has an undeniable sense of cinematic style, and his films are notable for both their violence and their striking visuals. He certainly knocked it out of the park with his directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs, which showcased many of the features for which the director would become known. Surprisingly, it was only slightly successful at the box office, but it would go on to become a key part of the indie cinema canon.

Few debuts have been as remarkably successful as Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, and it remains one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed films of all time. It’s easy to see why, as it is not only a brilliant rumination on fame and hubris but also a truly visionary piece of filmmaking. It showed that Welles was truly one of the great maestros of cinema, even if many of his subsequent directorial efforts never quite measured up to the high bar set by Citizen Kane.