Summary
Benny Safdieis a true Renaissance man, directing, writing, producing, and acting in several critically acclaimed and financially successful movies and TV shows. Benny and his older brother Josh are a filmmaking duo who are not onlyamong the best sibling directorsworking in Hollywood, but two of the best directors, full stop. Born in New York and splitting their childhood between Manhattan and Queens, the Safdie brothers have garnered artistic comparisons to other New York City filmmakers like John Cassavetes and Woody Allen.
Though they’ve been working together for many years,Benny and Josh officially split apart in 2024. It was an amicable split, and it seems that the two simply have different goals in the near future, with Bennydirecting the Dwayne Johnson-starringThe Smashing Machinesolo.Benny has also proven himself a very talented actor, comfortable in a variety of genres, and he has not lost his edge as a director either. His best films and TV shows reveal new aspects of his range as a performer and his capabilities as a filmmaker.
10 Best Director-Writer Duos In Hollywood
While there are plenty of talented writers and directors in Hollywood, these duos seem to win the most awards.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Cast
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Set during the reign of the Galactic Empire, the narrative follows former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi as he undertakes a pivotal mission to reconcile with former allies turned adversaries while confronting the formidable forces of the Empire.
Benny Safdie appears in the pilot episode ofObi-Wan Kenobias Nari, a Force-sensitive human-like alien and a former Jedi. After the fall of the Jedi Order, Nari escaped into hiding, coming to live on Tatooine. He found work at a saloon in Mos Eisley but was tracked down by the Grand Inquisitors. Fleeing for his life after saving his friend, Nari attempts to convince Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) to join him against the Inquisitors. After Obi-Wan refuses, Nari’s body is hung in the town square for Obi-Wan and Mos Eisley to see.
Despite the destruction of the Jedi Order,Nari remained dedicated to their principles.He held on to his lightsaber all these years and revealed himself to the Inquisitors to protect his friend.Safdie has the gravity and sadness to play the old Jedi, who is nearly alone in the world. The weight of his death is an important part of Obi-Wan being spurred to action, making Nari a critical part of the character’s history.
9Daddy Longlegs (2009)
Director (With Josh Safdie), Writer
Daddy Longlegsis the Safdie brothers' feature-length directorial debut. A semi-autobiographical story,Daddy Longlegsfollows Lenny (Ronald Bronstein), a divorced father and movie projectionist whose sons, Sage (Sage Ranaldo) and Frey (Frey Ranaldo), come to stay with him for two weeks out of the year. While Lenny tries to show his boys a good time, forgoing their usual rules, he ends up causing trouble for his children and himself.
Irresponsible to the point of criminal, Lenny is an incredibly deplorable character who puts himself over Sage and Frey at almost every opportunity. Still, the Safdies andDaddy Longlegsmake Lenny pitiable. The audience never likes him, but it’s hard not to want to spend time with him.The anxious storytelling the Safdies are known for is apparent in their first movieand works well to get inside Lenny’s complicated head.
Licorice Pizza
Licorice Pizza is a coming-of-age film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, set in the San Fernando Valley in 1973. It follows the lives of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane as they navigate the complexities of adolescence and first love in this vibrant period piece.
Licorice Pizzais Paul Thomas Anderson’s first movie since 2017’sPhantom Threadand this is a much more personal story, effectively depicting Anderson’s life growing up in the San Fernando Valley. There are severalreal-life figures depicted inLicorice Pizza, including Joel Wachs, played by Benny Safdie. Wachs is a politician running for mayor of Los Angeles.Licorice Pizzais filled with side stories, and Wachs' is arguably the best, aside from maybe Bradley Cooper’s as Jon Peters.
Joel Wachs ran for mayor of Los Angeles three times but was never elected.
The film takes place just before Wachs publicly came out as gay, so in the film, he asks Alana Kane (Alana Haim) to be the fake girlfriend of Wachs' secret boyfriend.Safdie is effortlessly charmingand Wachs seems to genuinely believe in his ability to transform the Valley. It’s an optimistic role and Safdie imbues the character with a low-grade nervousness that’s understandable considering the secret he’s hiding.
7Lenny Cooke (2013)
Director (With Josh Safdie)
There are plenty of inspirational basketball documentaries, includingHoop DreamsandMore than a Game, but true to form, the Safdie brothers' basketball documentary is much darker and more anxiety-inducing. Almost a response toMore than a Game, a 2008 documentary about LeBron James' journey to the NBA,Lenny Cooketells the cautionary version of that movie. Lenny Cooke was a generational basketball talent from the same high school class as James and Carmelo Anthony, ranked higher than those two in some projections.
With high expectations for the 2002 NBA Draft, Cooke went undrafted and never made it to the NBA. The Safdie brothers put the film together by piecing old, grainy analog footage from Cooke’s earlier years that changes to glossy HD later in the movie. It’s an unusual technique thatmakes the film stand out among similar sports documentaries and signaled the Safdies' interest in directing differently.
Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer is a film by Christopher Nolan, which follows the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy will play the titular role, with the story based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Christopher Nolan’s epicOppenheimerhas a huge ensemble cast, so it would be easy to miss a cameo here and there. Despite not being in the movie for long, Benny Safdie leaves a big impression as Edward Teller, a Hungarian theoretical physicist. Teller is arguably the only one who foresees the arms race the atomic bomb will produce and is working on an even bigger hydrogen bomb before Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) has even constructed the first weapon.
Every moment Safdie is on-screen, he steals the sene. Even when he is just fidgeting in his seat, deflecting the insults of other scientists angered at his refusal to participate in the atomic bomb’s construction, it’s hard to look away.Safdie’s squinted eyes and lumbering size compared to the slight and wide-eyed Oppenheimer is a perfect juxtaposition of the two charactersand what they represent.
Heaven Knows What
Heaven Knows What, directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, is a gritty portrayal of street life and addiction in New York City. The film stars Arielle Holmes, who adapts her own memoir, recounting her struggles with heroin addiction and tumultuous relationships. The raw and immersive storytelling captures the harrowing reality faced by individuals living on the margins of society, providing a stark look at their daily existence.
Arielle Holmes was living on the streets of New York City when Josh Safdie saw her walking into a subway station and approached her (viaVulture). He was doing some information gathering in the Diamond District for a film he and Benny were working on, which would becomeUncut Gems. Over lunch, Josh learned about Holmes' story as a recovering heroin addict and paid her to write a memoir, which he and Benny then turned intoHeaven Knows What, and stars Holmes as Harley Boggs, her own stand-in character.
It’s a painful and grueling film, but it’s also incredibly rewarding with a big payoff for all the sadness and trauma Harley experiences throughout the film.
It’s the type of unusual and meta filmmaking that the Safdie brothers are drawn to and excel at.Heaven Knows Whatlives up to its fascinating origin story. It’s a painful and grueling film, but it’s also incredibly rewarding with its insights into addiction and depression.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. follows an 11-year-old girl as she navigates new friendships and emotions after her family relocates from New York City to New Jersey, marking the onset of adolescence.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.is the 2023 adaptation of Judy Blume’s novelof the same name, and it admirably translates the award-winning book to the big screen. The film follows Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) who is shocked to learn her parents, Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and Herb (Benny Safdie), are moving her from New York City to a New Jersey suburb. There, Margaret and her new friends experience all the ups and downs of puberty while Margaret shares her woes and worries in prayers to God at night.
Thanks to the charming cast, frank discussions of heady topics, and great sense of humor,Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.succeeds on every front.
The book is one of the defining American middle-grade novels, so expectations were always going to be high for the film. Thanks to the charming cast, frank discussions of heady topics, and great sense of humor,Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.succeeds on every front. It’s an unusual role for Safdie. Herb is a quintessential, down-to-earth father figure, very much unlike his usual, eccentric or complicated characters. It’s a role he slots into surprisingly well, andSafdie makes a case for himself as a family movie star.
The Curse
Showtime presents The Curse, a dark comedy series Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie created. The series follows newly married couple Whitney and Asher while filming their new reality show, Fliplanthrophy, which started with the intention of helping those less fortunate and establishing new communities. However, in true behind-the-scenes fashion, not all is well behind the camera, and personal troubles and comedic chaos begin to bubble to the surface.
Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder, ofNathan for You, co-createdThe Curseand also starred in the TV show alongside Emma Stone.The Cursefollows married couple Whitney (Stone) and Asher Siegel (Fielder), who are working on the pilot for their HGTV reality show where they flip houses for charity. The series is produced by Dougie Schecter (Safdie), Asher’s friend and an unscrupulous TV showrunner.
The Curseis one of the most astonishing TV showsto come out in recent years, blurring the lines between fiction and reality, and doing so with a satire so acidic, it may be unpalatable to a lot of audiences. Safdie is no slouch in the acting department andhis portrayal as Asher’s frenemy producer is simultaneously engrossing and despicable. It’s left ambiguous if what’s happening onThe Cursestuns Dougie because he’s afraid or because he sees a profitable angle for his show.
Good Time
Good Time is a heist thriller that stars Robert Pattinson as Constantine Nikas, a small-time crook who escapes after a botched robbery only to see his younger brother sent to prison. To free him, Constantine must dive head-first into the criminal underworld and endure unparalleled violence and chaos over the course of one night if he hopes to free him.
Good Timeis directed by the Safdie brothers and stars Benny Safdie alongside Robert Pattinson. Connie Nikas (Pattinson) is a small-time criminal who attempts to free his developmentally disabled brother, Nick (Safdie), from police custody. While doing so, Connie tries to avoid arrest himself after a robbery goes wrong. A tense, unique, and beautiful crime thriller,Good Timeis filled with incredible performances and some masterful filmmaking from the Safdies.
Benny Safdie has a very tricky role, portraying the mentally disabled Nick, and it could have gone very wrong without the right actor, but Safdie pulls it off.He’s not over-the-top in his performance, nor does he downplay any of the difficulties Nick faces.Good Timealso has a fantastic, hypnotic soundtrack that blends the nervous, anxious elements of the film with the crime thriller aspects to create a singular mood.
Uncut Gems
A crime thriller from Josh and Benny Safdie, Uncut Gems follows New York jeweler Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) as his gambling addiction forces him to associate with increasingly dangerous individuals. After receiving an incredibly rare black opal, Howard believes he can finally free himself of his mounting debts, but not without engaging in one final high-stakes balancing act while fending off violent loan sharks.
Uncut Gemsrevealed to a wider audience the incredible talents of the Safdie brothers and just how well they can create tension in a movie. From the editing to the dialogue to the carefully mapped plot,everything inUncut Gemsis created to make the audience watch with a lingering sense of dread. It’s also a great reminder of just how greatAdam Sandler is when he appears in a serious movie.
The film follows Howard Ratner (Sandler), a wealthy jeweler with a serious gambling addiction. No matter how much money Ratner makes from his store, it’s never enough that he doesn’t want to make more betting it all on a game. The ratcheting tension and converging storylines grow to fever pitch inUncut Gems, and Josh andBenny Safdiedeftly weave the stories together into a tragic and frightening tale about obsession and greed.
