10 Greatest Directorial Debut Sci-Fi Movies

Most monster movies tend to focus on people running and screaming chaotically amidst the destruction of alien behemoths, but with 2010's Monsters, director Gareth Edwards sought to tell a different kind of tale.

Rather than taking place in the immediate aftermath of a monster invasion, Monsters instead takes place several years after some giant tentacled creatures appear in Mexico, which is then cordoned off as an 'infected zone'. The film follows a photojournalist (Scoot McNairy) who's tasked with escorting his boss' daughter (Whitney Able) back to the US through said infected zone.

Mixing elements of Francis Ford Coppola's upriver journey in Apocalypse Now against a backdrop of Spielbergian wonder, Monsters focuses on its human characters and their relationships whilst surrounded by the fantastical titular creatures.

Edwards not only wrote and directed Monsters, but also served as the cinematographer and visual effects artist, using consumer-level software to create some truly incredible creature designs. Thanks to Edwards' talent at balancing large-scale effects with small-scale drama, he was quickly scouted to direct 2014's Godzilla reboot.