Yorgos Lanthimos

Early life

Lanthimos was born in the Pagrati neighbourhood of Athens on 23 September 1973, the son of shop owner Eirini and basketball player Antonis Lanthimos. His father played for Pagrati BC and the Greek national basketball team, later serving as a basketball instructor at the Moraitis School. Lanthimos was primarily raised by his mother.

After completing his education at the Moraitis School, he studied business administration. He also followed his father into playing basketball for Pagrati BC, before eventually quitting playing.

Career

1995–2008: Rise to prominence

During the 1990s, Lanthimos directed a series of videos for Greek dance-theater companies. Since 1995 he has directed TV commercials, short films, experimental theater plays and music videos (such as for Sakis Rouvas). He also worked as a photographer for the covers and interior photos of Rouvas's albums Kati Apo Mena (1998) and 21os Akatallilos (2000). In 2004, he was a member of the creative team that designed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Lanthimos’s feature film career started with the 2001 mainstream Greek comedy My Best Friend, which he co-directed with Lakis Lazopoulos. Lanthimos has disavowed the film, saying he had little creative control, with Lakis Lazopoulos holding full authority.

His true artistic breakthrough came with his sophomore feature the experimental and psychological drama Kinetta, which premiered at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival.

The film revolves around three nameless protagonists as they attempt to film and photograph various badly reenacted struggles between a man and a woman at a Greek hotel. The film earned mixed to negative reviews. Roger Moore of Movie Nation described it as "overtly navel-gazing, obscure to the point of suggesting obscurant. It’s a 95 minute exercise in minimalism, behavior studies, psychology and boredom." John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote a positive review he stating, "The standoffish debut holds some pleasures for patient viewers" adding, "Lanthimos enjoys provoking us visually...The camera’s gaze is as idiosyncratic as the visions the Driver tries to bring to life, but unlike him, the film seems satisfied with what it creates."

In 2008 he directed a production of Natura morta in un fosso written by Fausto Paravidino at the Amore Theatre in Greece.

2009–2017: Breakthrough and acclaim

Lanthimos's third feature film, the Greek psychological drama Dogtooth, won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. Critic Roger Ebert praised Lanthimos for "his command of visuals and performances". The Associated Press described the film as "Disturbing and at times startlingly brutal, the film will alienate those who seek genteel fare at the art house. But its edgy integrity and distinctive atmosphere should win fans in some corners, particularly among those who admire the less tongue-in-cheek work of Lars Von Trier." In 2010, he acted in and co-produced Attenberg, a Greek drama film directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari. His fourth feature film, Alps (2011), won the Osella Award for Best Screenplay at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. A. O. Scott of The New York Times described the film as "systematically unsettling our sense of what is normal and habitual in human interactions."

Lanthimos's fifth film was the absurdist black comedy The Lobster (2015) starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, and John C. Reilly. The script for this film won the ARTE International Award as Best CineMart Project at the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Prize. Chris Nashawatay of Entertainment Weekly praised the film, saying that "Lanthimos' films aren't for everyone. They're deadpan and almost clinically detached. At times they feel like dispatches from a distant alien planet." Lanthimos directed a video vignette for the Radiohead song "Identikit", released on their 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool.

In 2017, Lanthimos directed the psychological horror film The Killing of a Sacred Deer starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Barry Keoghan. It premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or. Mark Kermode of The Observer wrote: "As black comedy gives way to grand guignol, we are reminded of the tortured games that Michael Haneke once played upon his bourgeois protagonists and audiences." He also compared it to films such as Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973), and Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin.

2018–present: Collaborations with Emma Stone

In 2018 he directed the period black comedy, The Favourite starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. The film is a tragicomic tale of personal and political jealousy and intrigue revolving around Anne, Queen of Great Britain in 18th-century England. It made its debut at the 75th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize. The New York Times labeled the film a Critic's Pick with A.O. Scott writing, "Lanthimos, his camera gliding through gilded corridors and down stone staircases — in exquisitely patterned light and shadow, with weird lenses and startling angles — choreographs an elaborate pageant of decorum and violence, claustrophobia and release." The film went on to tie with the Alfonso Cuarón directed drama film Roma for the most nominations at 91st Academy Awards, with ten, including Best Picture and Best Director for Lanthimos (winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for Olivia Colman).

He then directed the 16mm black and white silent short Bleat (2022) starring Emma Stone and Damien Bonnard. Bleat was co-commissioned by the Greek National Opera and Athens-based cultural foundation NEON. The story, set on the Greek Cycladic island of Tinos, revolves around a woman in black who is mourning inside a simple house. The film has been described as experimental and surrealist in style and focuses on themes of loneliness, connection, death, and desire as well as human and animal interaction. The film has only been shown twice, first being at the Stavros Niarchos Hall in Athens in 2022, and the second at Alice Tully Hall at the New York Film Festival in 2023. Lanthimos designed Bleat to be screened only in theaters with a live orchestra and chorus.

In 2023, he directed and produced the coming of age dark comedy Poor Things, which is based on the 1992 novel of the same name. The film marked the third collaboration between Lanthimos and Stone, and also featured performances from Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, and Ramy Youssef. The film premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Golden Lion. Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal described the film as "Sumptuous, dazzling and glorious". The film earned eleven nominations at the 96th Academy Awards, winning four (including the Academy Award for Best Actress for Emma Stone) as well as seven nominations at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, where it won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Lanthimos published a book of behind the scenes photographs in his first photography monograph 'Dear God, the Parthenon is still broken' (Void, 2024).

Style and themes

Lanthimos has been widely described as one of the most talented and innovative auteurs of his generation. He is a part of a postmodern film movement known as the Greek Weird Wave. His films Kinetta, Dogtooth, and Alps are greatly influenced by his Greek heritage. Similarly, his English-language films The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer continue to investigate similar thematic issues.

Lanthimos's films often feature uniquely framed cinematography, deadpan acting, and characters with stilted speech. Lanthimos’s films are known for mixing absurdist dark comedy with violent and sexually explicit content, as well as eccentric world-building in his films with less grounded settings. He has often explored sexually taboo subjects in his films, such as rape and incest. His films are often sociopolitical in nature, and often explore the nature of power and its impact on the people who are vying for, using, or being exploited or influenced by it.

Activism

In 2023, Lanthimos along with Costa-Gavras, was part of a campaign aiming to save historic cinemas in Athens from demolition. He said: “We should be able to understand the value of the historical cinemas of Athens for society and culture. I plead with those in charge and those with real power to do what is necessary,”

At the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in August 2025, Lanthimos wore a Palestinian flag pin during the press conference and the premiere of his film Bugonia.

In September 2025, Lanthimos signed the Film Workers for Palestine letter pledging that he would not work with Israeli film institutions implicated in the genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.

In January 2026, Lanthimos was among 800 Hollywood professionals who signed a statement condemning the Iranian regime for its atrocities during the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, where civilians were protesting against repression.

Personal life

While working as an actor and producer on Attenberg (2010), Lanthimos met and began dating the film's star, Greek/French actress Ariane Labed. They married in 2013. They lived in London from 2011 until 2021, and now primarily reside in Athens.

Filmography

Accolades

According to IMDb*

Directed Academy Award performances

Under Lanthimos' direction, these actors have received Academy Award wins and nominations for their performances in their respective roles.