10 Best Directorial Debut Films Of The 21st Century (So Far)
1. Get Out
It’s safe to say Jordan Peele blew the world away with Get Out back in 2017. Albeit more of a psychological thriller as opposed to a flat-out horror, the film is creepy as hell nonetheless, and it’s genuinely mind-boggling that a feature this good was Peele's directorial debut.
If you were to go back in time and tell Peele that he would go on to be the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, he’d probably burst out laughing.
That said, his meteoric rise and recognition in Hollywood should come as no real surprise considering his work alongside Keegan-Michael Key for their show ‘Key and Peele’, which garnered an abundance of Emmy nominations and wins. Regarding the movie at hand, Get Out won’t be forgotten any time soon. It’s ambitious, clever and equally eerie, leaving you sat on the edge of your seat for the most part.
There’s a sprinkling of your bog-standard jump scares here and there, but similarly to Ari Aster, Jordan Peele has no interest in cheap tricks and thrills as he opts for suspense and the scariest ploy of them all, realism. And of course, there’s no Get Out without Daniel Kaluuya.
The former Skins star put in a performance for the ages that kickstarted his Hollywood success story as we know it to this day. So, not only did Peele succeed in making one of the genre’s greatest-ever entries, but he also introduced mainstream audiences to Kaluuya’s services. No biggie.