From the stripped-down authenticity of Jonah Hill’s “Mid90s,” to the fed-up outcry of Carlos López Estrada’s “Blindspotting,” to the prestige Oscar-bait trappings of Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” 2018’s class of debut filmmaking talent built impressively on the promise of cinema’s future.
Directors such as Ari Aster (“Hereditary”), Aneesh Chaganty (“Searching”), Josie Rourke (“Mary Queen of Scots”) and Boots Riley (“Sorry to Bother You”), to name a few, also stepped up with singular offerings, forming a chorus of new voices with something to say.Following in the wake of newcomer talents like Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) in recent years, critical appreciation seems to have rallied around one name in particular: “Eighth Grade” writer-director Bo Burnham, who received a Directors Guild nomination for best first-time feature this week along with Cooper, Estrada, Riley and “A Private War” helmer Matthew Heineman.
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