Here’s a topic of conversation. In my Tony Gilroy piece, I mentioned how “Michael Clayton” was one of the best debut films of the 21st Century. What are the other ones?
IonCinema’s Eric Lavallée tells me Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun,” a bittersweet and haunting film, is his pick for the top 21st-century debut. Wells’ film was such a personal statement, a devastating recollection of the limited time she spent with her late father, that whatever she ends up doing next will likely pale in comparison. Call it the inevitable sophomore curse.
This reminds me of the time Guillermo del Toro called Celine Song’s “Past Lives” the best film debut he’s seen in the last twenty years. Song’s sophomore effort, “Materialists,” which is set for release this summer, already looks like a disappointment.
The sophomore curse also infected Laszo Nemes who wowed Cannes in 2015 with his holocaust stunner “Son of Saul.” His second film, “Sunset,” was rejected by Cannes in 2018, and instead premiered at the Venice Film Festival a few months later to muted reception.
Much like Orson Welles and “Citizen Kane,” or Truffaut and “400 Blows,” starting off your career with an all-time banger can turn out to be a real curse — no matter how many great films you make after that, nothing might be able to match the way you caught lightning in a bottle the first time around.
Limiting myself to just the 21st Century, my 10 picks for best directorial debuts would be Laszlo Nemes’ “Son of Saul,” Steve McQueen’d “Hunger,” Todd Field’s “In the Bedroom,” Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton,” Bennett Miller’s “Capote,” Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing,” Trey Edward Shults’ “Krisha,” Ari Aster’s “Hereditary,” Kenneth Lonergan’s “You Can Count On Me,” and Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.”
It's time for our readers to chime in. What have been the best first films of the 21st century?