Movies By "Nepo Baby" Directors
M. Night Shyamalan's daughter isn't the first
Like many industries, Hollywood has always been one with plenty of nepotism. So many of the biggest names in movies got their start because of their last name, from Michael Douglas to Jane Fonda to Jamie Lee Curtis. But this doesn’t mean they don’t have talent or shouldn’t be in the industry. As Maya Hawke recently said, “I think I’m comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway. And I know that my not doing it wouldn’t help anyone.”
Opening in theaters this weekend is The Watchers, which is the directorial debut of M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan. The Watchers seems like a supernatural horror film in true Shyamalan fashion. With this in mind, we’re highlighting a couple films from “nepo baby” directors who followed in their filmmaker parent’s footsteps to make their own movies.
Drew recommends…
On the Rocks
In many ways, Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks is a film about what it’s like to have a wealthy and beloved father. Rashida Jones plays Laura, a frustrated novelist living in New York City who suspects her husband is having an affair. Laura teams up with her rich socialite father, Felix (Bill Murray), to investigate if her suspicions are true. Due to its smaller ambitions and stakes, On the Rocks was probably always destined to be seen as minor Sofia Coppola, but it also may be one of her more personal and vulnerable films.
It must be a very strange experience to grow up in the shadow of the man who made The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, but instead of making a living in an entirely different career or imitating her dad’s path, Sofia has improbably become a distinctive auteur filmmaker with her own unique style, signature, and recurring themes. By the time On the Rocks came out in 2020 she had fully stepped out from Francis Ford’s shadow and become one of the best directors working today.
However, growing up with a famous dad undoubtedly led to her making this movie, with Sofia as the Laura stand-in and Francis Ford Coppola as Felix. While the movie is elegant and enjoyable – like sipping a martini in a low-key trendy cocktail bar – it also has some things to say about generational gender dynamics and middle aged ennui. Sofia is very clearly pulling from her own experience with a larger-than-life father who comes from an older generation. Meanwhile, she’s perhaps exploring some of her own hang-ups and discontentment, as she was approaching age 50 when making the movie.
On the Rocks may not have the magic of Lost in Translation or the boldness of Marie Antoinette, but it is a mature and reflective piece of her career. Sofia Coppola certainly had an easier entry to filmmaking than most, but she’s gone on to masterfully present her own sensibility and life experience in her work.
Streaming on Apple TV+
Billy recommends…
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
The nepotism conversation culminated with Vulture’s article about nepo babies that investigated how deep this ran in Hollywood once a TikTok trend coined the phrase “nepo baby.” Director Jake Kasdan almost skated by without any mention in Vulture of his relation to Lawrence Kasdan, famed Star Wars screenwriter. Luckily for us, this is an example of maybe the child actually does have talent and nepotism being pretty awesome.
Jake Kasdan wrote and directed the best comedic parody of the 21st century. Comedies are often not held up in high regard compared to other genres. And especially movies like Dewey Cox that have such a clear aim at Hollywood for the unbearable track record they have with all forms of biopics. Audiences have caught up to the brilliance, but in 2007 everyone seemed to sleep on this one. An average 74% Rotten Tomatoes score and an unsuccessful $20.6 million dollar box office performance paved the way for a cult classic to be born.
Kasdan wrote this movie with Judd Apatow. They became early friends in the industry when they worked on Freaks and Geeks. With that connection I like to think that Kasdan made his way completely on his own. What he learned from his father and with Judd clearly translated to the big screen. So my bit of saying, “nepotism being pretty awesome,” has never been more simultaneously confirmed and equally as obnoxious because the Kasdan family is not one of the premier nepotism examples, but even without obvious notoriety, it paved the way. Ultimately, this is John C. Reilly’s movie. And I will not be doing research on his path to fame to protect us all.
Available to rent digitally on demand
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Hit Man is out on Netflix today! We’re preparing ourselves with The Big Picture podcast’s Richard Linklater Hall of Fame episode and The Hollywood Reporter’s profile of Glen Powell.
Also, Vulture has a list of 12 essential hit man movies to watch after you see Hit Man.
That’s a much fairer perspective, but I’m not sure it was worth reporting on? I was reading it like, what’s new here…?
Of course it’s much better to acknowledge the privilege than deny it, but you can also accept it without needing to talk about it so unapologetically - not that she needs to apologise as such, it just felt somewhat out of touch to me.
I also read that interview with Maya Hawke and I thought “well of course you don’t have a problem with it”.
I also think the “I’m not helping anyone by not doing it” is short sighted… if there was zero nepotism in Hollywood, it would leave a lot more opportunities for people that don’t have the “right” surname.
The interview offered nothing more than her saying, “Yeah, I know I’m privileged, but you know what? I don’t care.”