PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0

Benny Safdie spent a decade making anxious, propulsive New York crime films with his brother Josh — Good Time and Uncut Gems chief among them — before splitting off to direct alone. His solo debut, The Smashing Machine (2025), a drama about MMA fighter Mark Kerr, won the Silver Lion at Venice. As an actor he's ranged from a supporting turn in Good Time to Oppenheimer, Licorice Pizza, and a co-creating role on Nathan Fielder's The Curse.