Yorgos Lanthimos
Birthdate: Sep 23, 1973
Birthplace: Athens, Greece
Yorgos Lanthimos established himself at the start of the 21st century as one of the leading voices of a new Greek cinema characterized by absurdist comedy, extreme behavior, and startling stage pieces, which—in Lanthimos’ case—was rooted in his years in experimental theater. Lanthimos made his feature directorial debut with the wild sex comedy "My Best Friend" (2001), which he co-directed, wrote, and starred in, alongside Lakis Lazopoulos. The film proved a commercial success, garnering 350,000 admissions in Greece.
Lanthimos made his first film as director/writer and his first as solo director with the macabre Kinetta (2005), co-written by Yorgos Kakanakis and produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari, with Evangelia Randou, Aris Servetalis, and Costa Xikominos, and which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Lanthimos had his international filmmaking breakthrough as director/writer of the dark, violent study of oppressive parents dominating their children, Dogtooth (2009), co-written by Efthymis Filippou, produced by Tsangari (as well as Iraklis Mavroidis and Yorgos Tsourgiannis), and which won the Un Certain Regard prize at its premiere in the Cannes Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film before a release by Kino International (U.S.)/Verve Pictures (U.K.)/Feelgood Entertainment (Greece).
Yorgos Lanthimos produced and acted in director/writer/producer Athina Rachel Tsangari’s debut feature, Attenberg (2010), co-starring Ariane Labed and Evangelia Randou and premiering in competition for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival (where it won the Volpi Cup Best Actress for Labed and Lina Mangiacapre Award for Tsangari), and was Greece’s selection for the Oscar’s Best Foreign Language Film Award. Lanthimos was director/co-writer/producer of the absurdist drama, Alps (2011), co-written by Efthymis Filippou and produced by Tsangari via her production company Haos Film, with a cast including Angeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris, and Labed, and which won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
Lanthimos was director/co-writer/producer of his first English-language movie, the absurdist black comedy The Lobster (2015), starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Bardem, Olivia Colman, Ashley Jensen, Ariane Labed, Angeliki Papoulia, John C. Reilly, Lea Seydoux, and Ben Whishaw, premiering in competition in the Cannes Film Festival, released by A24 in the U.S., and earning Lanthimos his second Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay with Filippou, finishing with a strong gross of $18 million. Lanthimos was director/co-writer (again with Filippou)/producer of the psychological drama, The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), co-starring Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Alicia Silverston, and Bill Camp, with Lanthimos winning his second competition prize in the Cannes Film Festival (for Best Screenplay, with Filippou), and which was released by A24 in the U.S. and globally grossed $10.7 million.
Yorgos Lanthimos was director/producer of the absurdist 18th century-set satire, The Favourite (2018), co-written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, co-starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Nicholas Hoult, winning both the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for Lanthimos and the Volpi Cup Best Actress for Colman, and released by Fox Searchlight Pictures and grossing a worldwide return of $96 million. Lanthimos was director/producer and won the Venice Golden Lion award again with lead actor Emma Stone, this time for writer Tony McNamara’s adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, Poor Things (2023), co-starring Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott and Jerrod Carmichael, winning four Oscars (including Best Actress for Stone), and earning an excellent $177.6 million with Searchlight Pictures as U.S. distributor.
Lanthimos returned to work as director/co-writer (with longtime writing partner Efthimis Filippou)/producer of the triptych fable, Kinds of Kindness (2024), co-starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie and Hunter Schafer, premiering in competition at the Cannes Film Festival (where Plemons won the Best Actor Palme), and was released by Searchlight Pictures to a $16 million worldwide gross. Lanthimos was director/producer of Bugonia (2025), his second adaptation, this one by screenwriter Will Tracy of Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 Korean sci-fi movie, Save the Green Planet!, once again starring Stone and Plemons, with Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone, premiering at the Venice Film Festival and released by Focus Features.
Yorgos Lanthimos Photos and Videos
Personal life
Yorgos Lanthimos was born and raised in the Pagrati neighborhood of Athens, Greece, by his mother Eirini (shopowner) and Antonis (basketball player and coach), mainly by his mother. Lanthimos attended and graduated from Moraitis School. After a period playing as a professional basketball player and curtailed by injury, Lanthimos attended the Athens-based Hellenic Cinema and Television School Stavrakos, where he studied film and television directing. Lanthimos has been married to French actor Ariane Labed since 2013; the couple lived in London from 2011 to 2021, when they relocated to Athens. Lanthimos’ height is 6’ 1½ ”.
Known For
Yorgos Lanthimos Movies
director
Previous (7)
- 2025 |
- 2024 |
Kinds of Kindness
A man seeks to break free from his predetermined path, a cop questions his wife's demeanor after her return from a supposed drowning, and a woman searches for an extraordinary individual prophesied to become a renowned spiritual guide.
- 2023 |
Poor Things
An account of the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.
- 2018 |
The Favourite
In early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.
- 2017 |
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.
- 2016 |
The Lobster
In a dystopian near future, according to the laws of The City, single people are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or they're transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.
- 2010 |
actor
Previous (5)
Facts About Yorgos Lanthimos
Directing Beyond Cinema: Yorgos Lanthimos has been a director/writer beyond feature films, including several theater productions such as Chekhov’s Platonov at the National Theatre of Greece; six short films made between 1995 and 2022; and ten music videos made between 1998 and 2025, particularly with Greek artist Sakis Rouvas.
Influences: Lanthimos has noted that watching the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Robert Bresson inspired him to become a filmmaker, but he also cites a wider range of filmmaking influences, including Stanley Kubrick, Luis Buñuel, John Cassavetes, and Jean-Luc Godard—all of which are visibly detectable in his movies.
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