The 8 Best Movies from Directors Who Were Under 25 Years Old

Anyone up on their independent horror cinema or genre festival films will be aware of the Adams Family. Not to be confused with the all-together kooky fictional variant, the Adams clan are composed of John Adams, Toby Poser, Lulu Adams, and Zelda Adams. The quartet have been making movies together for years and take full control over their art. The family not only write, direct and star in their movies, they also shoot, edit, create their own VFX , and even score their movies with music from their band H6llb6nd6r. Of the clan, Zelda is the youngest member, and made movies all through high-school and college. Any number of the Adams' films could be called out as one to watch, but if you’re after a cool entry point into the family’s work, Hellbender is a great place to start. 

Made when Zelda was in high-school, Hellbender sees her star as Izzy, a teenager who lives in isolation with her mother (played by Adams matriarch Toby Poser). A coming-of-age horror to rival the greats, Hellbender follows Izzy as she learns of her dangerous supernatural heritage as a Hellbender, a creature that is part witch, demon, and apex predator. Hellbender is perfect viewing for anyone with an appetite for witch movies, coming-of-age horror, and low budget filmmaking.

Way before Kane Parsons was the filmmaking prodigy to keep an eye on, Sam Raimi was the most exciting youngster on the rise. Raimi was famously just 20 when he created his now iconic horror classic, The Evil Dead. Unlike Parsons, who had the support of A24, everything that Sam Raimi did on The Evil Dead was provided by himself. This meant a lot of cost-cutting, with Raimi opting to make the movie with his friends so as to be able to stretch the limited funds further, and the results speak for themselves. The Evil Dead has not only become a horror movie institution, it has also spawned a TV show, as well as several sequels (both direct and standalone), and a reboot. 

The Evil Dead was one of the pioneers of the horror trope setting of the cabin in the woods. The story found Bruce Campbell’s college student Ash venturing to a cabin with friends for a weekend of partying. A quick search of their holiday property uncovers some troubling artefacts in the basement, and after one of the group accidentally plays a recording of an ancient incantation, Ash finds himself battling the demonic Deadites. The Evil Dead is a film that straddles the line between comedy and horror perfectly, providing scares and laughs aplenty. Essential viewing for horror fans, The Evil Dead is a classic for a reason. 

Kane Parsons’ Backrooms might have been funded by A24 and feature the likes of Osgood Perkins on the producing team, but the initial idea started on YouTube. Inspired by a CreepyPasta story, Parsons decided to make a short film exploring the mythic backrooms. This then led to a series of interconnected shorts that expanded on the lore and created even more nightmare fuel for the internet to consume. Incredibly, he did most of the work alone at his computer. That original short, The Backrooms, is especially sinister and it's easy to understand why a studio like A24 was willing to put their faith in Parsons despite his age. Although currently 20, that initial short launched four years ago when he was only 16. 

The feature version of Backrooms stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve as a furniture store owner and his therapist, who find themselves trapped in the terrifying liminal space. Full of creeping dread and anxiety-inducing imagery, Backrooms is a perfect continuation of Parsons’ shorts and demonstrates how far the young director has already come. As unsettling as Backrooms is, Parsons’ greatest trick is nailing the movie’s ‘90s setting and aesthetic despite having been born 11 years after the decade ended.

Alice Maio Mackay might only be 21, but she has already directed six feature films, with a seventh on the way. The Australian’s debut, So Vam, was made when she was just 16, and since then, Mackay has put out a new movie pretty much every year. Most of her filmography can be found on Shudder and each provides an interesting spin on traditional horror stories. So Vam focuses on vampires, Carnage for Christmas is a slasher, and T-Blockers is a spin on the body snatcher subgenre.

The most important aspect of Alice Maio Mackay’s work is that she approaches all of her stories from a LGBTQ+ perspective. Her films are horror stories that cast people from the queer community and tackle important issues, while still maintaining a fun edge. Of all of her films, her most recent, The Serpent’s Skin, is perhaps her best. A heady mix of The Craft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the story joins Anna as she flees her transphobic town. Arriving in a new city, she meets Gen, but as the two get close they accidentally conjure a demon determined on hunting them down.

Robert Rodriguez might be a director that is trusted with multi-million dollar budgets now, but back when he started, he had far more limited funds. Despite his lack of money, Rodriguez was undeterred and threw himself into the creation of his debut feature, El Mariachi. His experience making the movie became a blueprint for others, thanks in part to the director documenting his journey in the now filmmaking bible, Rebel Without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player. 

El Mariachi finds a travelling mariachi mistaken for a murderous criminal, leading to much violence and mayhem as he attempts to hide from the group. A true indie darling, El Mariachi is proof there is a way to cross from the indie scene to Hollywood. Rodriguez never forgot the film though, later following it up with sequels Desperado, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. 

Another director that made his name aged 23 was Kevin Smith. Renowned for his love of comic books and all things nerd culture, back in 1994 the young director arrived at Sundance with a movie and a dream. The movie was Clerks, an instant ‘90s cult classic, and the springboard for Smith’s future career. 

Set over the course of one day, Clerks offers a healthy dose of zany, comedic life as it chronicles the escapades of the workers and customers of the Quick Stop. A brilliant slice of slacker dramedy, Clerks would go on to get two sequels, as well as launch the Jay and Silent Bob universe.

In 1992, aged just 24, John Singleton made history as being both the youngest person, and first African-American to be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards for his work on Boyz n the Hood. At the time of writing, Singleton still retains the record for the youngest nominated director. 

An iconic and culturally significant movie, Boyz n the Hood stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne, and Ice Cube as young men trying to survive in a Los Angeles ghetto. A film that dissects masculinity, race, violence, and relationships, Boyz n the Hood is a hard-hitting watch worthy of Oscar accolades, but 1992 was a strong year for movies and Singleton ultimately lost out to The Silence of the Lambs’ director, Jonathan Demme.

Of all the directors working, few have had as prolific a career as Steven Spielberg. Over the course of his movies Spielberg made a whole generation terrified of the sea with shark horror Jaws, made people believe that dinosaurs were real again in Jurassic Park, and had everyone wishing that they could have a friendly alien pal like E.T. Before all of that, though, he was responsible for the taut chase movie Duel. 

Released in 1971 when Spielberg was 25, Duel saw a travelling salesman stalked across the country by a mysterious truck driver and his monstrous tanker. Initially made as a TV Movie, Duel was too good to be confined to cable and so the film received an international theatrical run. It also provided Universal with the confidence to let Spielberg loose on his career-making film, Jaws.