The 17 Best Directorial Debuts of 2025

“Arco” (Ugo Bienvenu)

Ugo Bienvenu’s debut feature, “Arco,” is one of 2025’s strongest animated films. Arco (voiced by Oscar Tresanini in French and Juliano Krue Vald in the English dub) is a boy out of time, accidentally sending himself from his far-futuristic world in 2932 to the relatively distant past of 2075. There, he meets Iris (Margot Ringard Oldra in French, Romy Fay in English), an adventurous and lonely little girl who has been waiting for something — or someone — interesting to fall from the sky.

Bienvenu, alongside general director Gilles Cazaux and co-writer Félix de Givry, has created one of 2025’s most distinct animated features, standing among the best of the year. The film builds beautifully, culminating in an emotional and breathtaking finale. Watch “Arco” with or without the family — just be sure to watch it.

“The Chronology of Water” (Kristen Stewart)

It’s always a coin flip when an established actor helms their first movie. Just as there is a long lineage of directorial debuts from Hollywood A-listers that show true promise, there are many such first features that are rote and uninspired. In “The Chronology of Water,” Kristen Stewart comes out of the gate swinging to prove that she’s part of the former group, and certainly not the latter.

“The Chronology of Water” adapts Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir of the same name, detailing the author’s childhood abuse, adulthood addiction, sexual identity, career as a writer/swimmer and more. Stewart’s approach to adapting this story is anything but safe: throughout the film, the writer/director (who does not appear in the film) lends the story an ethereal, temporally radical atmosphere. Like another actor’s debut this year, not every element works in “The Chronology of Water,” but Stewart’s fascinating swing immediately establishes her as an intriguing director worth watching.

“Dust Bunny” (Bryan Fuller)

Bryan Fuller is no stranger to screenwriting. Fuller has served as a TV writer for decades, notably working on a number of “Star Trek” series and the NBC show “Heroes.” In 2025, Fuller made his cinematic debut as the writer and director of “Dust Bunny,” a charming debut about a young girl (Sophie Sloan) who hires a hitman (Mads Mikkelsen) to get rid of the monster under her bed. Both Sloan and Mikkelsen give delightful performances in this enjoyable mix of “John Wick,” Amblin and fairy tales.

“East of Wall” (Kate Beecroft)

Kate Beecroft’s debut “East of Wall” was a buzzy title at 2025’s Sundance Film Festival, soon getting picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for U.S. distribution. The film follows a horse trainer who helps raise a group of struggling teenagers among financial difficulty. Beecroft’s feature is reminiscent of Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” another film that feels deeply personal to and embedded in the community at its center — one based on real people and starring many non-actors (and Scoot McNairy). “East of Wall” is a wonderful, quiet feature that establishes Beecroft as an empathetic and promising new filmmaking voice.

“Eephus” (Carson Lund)

I’ve never really been into sports, but that didn’t stop me from picking up a ball as a kid. Most of those memories don’t come from children’s leagues (I begged my parents to stop enrolling me in those almost as soon as they started), but from simply screwing around with my brother and the neighborhood kids on summer days and school nights. We’d play basketball, baseball, foursquare, tag — anything to pass the hours from sunrise to dinner time.

But one day, we did what all kids do: We put down the ball and never picked it back up. It’s rare that you get to realize what your last day of “play” would be, but that’s the exact situation the characters of “Eephus” find themselves in. In Carson Lund’s debut feature (written by Lund, Michael Basta and Nate Fisher), a group of men, ages spanning decades, reunite for one last baseball game in small-town 1990s Massachusetts before their old stomping ground is paved over for a new middle school.

It’s a striking and contemplative debut from Lund (who shot last year’s similarly slow and moody “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point”). As the men play longer and longer into the evening, it quickly becomes clear why Lund named his first film — part hangout movie, part musing on time’s passing — after a uniquely slow type of pitch. This film is, at its center, about a group of guys doing whatever they can to keep the ball in the air a little while longer.

“Friendship” (Andrew DeYoung)

Making the leap from television to film, Andrew DeYoung directed one of the funniest movies of the year as his feature debut. “Friendship” sees Tim Robinson play his traditional character — a strange man who nukes his social relationships through his inability to just be normal. In this film, those relationships are particularly Robinson’s Craig, Craig’s wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and Craig’s new neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd).

DeYoung shows a strong directorial hand throughout this movie in sequences both surreal and painfully uncomfortable. Throughout “Friendship,” DeYoung captures some of the funniest moments of the year: a bad boy’s punishment, a drug trip gone banal and an unwanted garage encounter, to name a few. At the same time, the writer/director manages to capture the “I Think You Should Leave” spirit of finding surprisingly touching commentary in absurd material. For some, “Friendship” will be a torturous marathon. For me, it’s one of the funniest movies of the decade.

“Good Boy” (Ben Leonberg)

One buzzy 2025 title was “Good Boy,” the first feature for director Ben Leonberg. Here, Leonberg makes his own dog Indy the star of his own horror film, with the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever becoming the POV character of this isolated haunted house story. The film loses steam after a bit, but Leonberg shows skill behind the camera as he crafts exceptional tension throughout. Indy delivers, without exaggeration, one of the most interesting and engaging performances of 2025.

“It Ends” (Alexander Ullom)

Four college-age friends pull onto a road only to find that it goes on without end. When they turn around, they find their entrance has been blocked. They don’t need to eat or sleep. Their car doesn’t run out of gas, so long as they leave it running. Every time they stop, they only have a brief window before danger befalls them. So they’re left with an option: give up or keep driving.

This is the situation at the center of Alexander Ullom’s debut feature, “It Ends.” This concept may sound limiting to some, but it feels boundless in Ullom’s hands. The writer/director balances distinctly Gen Z humor with some genuinely chilling existential horror in this film, anchored almost entirely by four actors, a car and an open road.

Without theatrical distribution following its festival debut, “It Ends” became one of the first films to launch on the Letterboxd Video Store. Within eight days, the film (which generated extremely positive reactions) was picked up by Neon for theatrical distribution, and deservedly so. “It Ends” isn’t just one of the strongest directorial debuts of 2025 — it’s one of the best, most interesting movies of the year.

“The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” (Diego Céspedes)

Diego Céspedes’ directorial debut, “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” went on to be selected as the Chilean entry for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards. Despite not breaking on to the eventual shortlist, Céspedes’ first feature, which sees prejudice and the AIDS epidemic ravage a queer community in a 1980s Chilean mining town, is an entirely worthy entry. Céspedes balances some truly tough content with a wealth of joy and love at the film’s center, anchored by an incredible child performance by Tamara Cortés at the film’s center. “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” is a bold and fascinating debut, one you can check out now on the Letterboxd Video Store.

“One of Them Days” (Lawrence Lamont)

Lawrence Lamont started 2025 off on a great note with “One of Them Days,” a January release that was never toppled as one of the year’s best comedies. Keke Palmer and SZA (astonishingly funny in her own big-screen debut) are an incredible comic pair, making gold out of Syreeta Singleton’s hilarious screenplay about two women on an L.A. odyssey to find money for rent. Lamont, Singleton and SZA all show immense skill in their collective first feature, a film that feels made by comedy professionals. Whatever they do next will surely be great, and I look forward to seeing another “One of Them Days” with this same team.

“Pillion” (Harry Lighton)

Harry Lighton’s “Pillion” quickly became one of 2025’s buzziest debuts toward the end of the year. The film stars Harry Melling as Colin, an introverted barbershop quartet singer living with his parents who becomes the dedicated submissive of the attractive dom Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). Lighton does not shy away from the sexuality of the piece, using it to deepen an extremely compelling relationship dynamic at the film’s center. Both men give excellent performances in this handsomely directed and strongly written debut from Lighton.

“The Plague” (Charlie Polinger)

Middle school is a disease. Charlie Polinger understands this well.

The writer-director’s feature debut, “The Plague,” takes place at a water polo camp where a group 12- and 13-year-old boys spread rumors about a plague that infects one of the group’s socially awkward members. The film centers on Ben, played exceptionally by Everett Blunck, who has one foot in both worlds, constantly teetering on the edge of becoming a bully and being bullied himself. Through him, we see how ostracization can too spread like the plague.

Polinger’s debut features excellent sound design and imagery, making the discomfort of middle school feel more akin to a horror movie than a normal experience. Polinger captures the look the feel of a more modern era of bullying, with Kayo Martin delivering an electric performance as pack leader Jake. “The Plague” probably won’t be the role Joel Edgerton gets the most flowers for this year, but the actor makes a meal out of a relatively minor part.

“The President’s Cake” (Hasan Hadi)

Iraq’s entry for Best International Feature and an Academy Awards shortlisted film, Hasan Hadi’s “The President’s Cake” follows a young girl who is forced by her school to bake a cake for President Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Lamia, played in a wonderful child performance by Baneen Ahmad Nayyef goes on an epic quest to get the ingredients necessary, struggling to find sugar, flour and eggs amid the economic sanctions leveled against Iraq by western countries following the invasion of Kuwait. It’s a pointed piece of commentary, one that becomes an emotional journey with a brilliant ending. 

“Sorry, Baby” (Eva Victor)

If I had to pick a favorite debut of the year, it would have to be Eva Victor’s “Sorry, Baby,” a tremendous film that has occupied my mind since I first saw it early in the year at the Sundance Film Festival. Victor, serving as writer, director and star, immediately proves themselves as a filmmaker worth watching in this emotionally deft high-wire act.

I could write endlessly about why I find “Sorry, Baby” so moving, singing its praises for paragraphs on end. But I also want people to see this film the way I did: with little more than a title and an image of a person holding a cat. This is one of my favorite films of the year, one you can — and should — watch right now on HBO Max.

“Together” (Michael Shanks)

Michael Shanks directed one of the year’s horror sensations for his feature debut. “Together” pairs real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco in a body horror romance about a couple who, after moving to a remote new home, get far closer than they bargained for when their bodies begin to fuse together. Shanks continues to escalate this premise in delightful ways, delivering some of the year’s most visceral and uncomfortable scares. The experience of watching this in a packed theater with a crowd all reacting (dare I say) together was magical. 

“The Ugly Stepsister” (Emilie Blichfeldt)

One of the few Oscars contenders on this list, Emilie Blichfeldt’s debut “The Ugly Stepsister” made its way onto the shortlist for Best Makeup & Hairstyling — and for good reason. The film puts a body horror twist on the classic “Cinderella” story, focusing on the lengths one of the so-called ugly stepsisters goes through to prove herself beautiful before the prince. The film has gotten a lot of comparisons to last year’s “The Substance” for its use of body horror to comment on the societal standards for female beauty, and this comp is not unfounded. Still, Blichfeldt’s film stands on its own as a fun, gross and thoughtful horror feature, boosted by wonderful cinematography from Marcel Zyskind. Check it out on Shudder now.

“Urchin” (Harris Dickinson)

“Urchin” and “The Chronology of Water” are of a pair — both examples of actors using their directorial debuts to make legitimate swings amid what could easily be more traditional stories. In Harris Dickinson’s feature directorial/screenwriting debut, the actor turns the camera on Mike (Frank Dillane), a young man struggling with drug addiction on the streets of London. The film is fairly traditional to start, a slow and lived-in story about Mike’s victories and setbacks. As it progresses, Dickinson begins to fold in more surrealist elements.

Though Dickinson appears in his own debut, he largely cedes the spotlight to Dillane, who delivers an exceptional performance as the film’s anchor. Like “The Chronology of Water,” “Urchin” certainly has its difficulties and weaknesses. Yet, as a first feature, it shows tremendous promise and thoughtfulness from Dickinson — a thrilling start for a hopefully long-term filmmaker.