Sean Baker is one of the most acclaimed directors of indie films in his generation, and his latest, Anora, is getting plenty of Oscar buzz. While speaking to the Associated Press, though, Baker, discussed the kinds of movies he wishes there were more of in today’s Hollywood.
“What I miss,” the director said, “where are the mature films for adults that had human stories, that didn’t have to have explosions or didn’t have to have superheroes or a horror-based [concept]? Where are those?”
He then cited several specific examples, including the films of Jonathan Demme (Something Wild, Silence of the Lambs, etc.) as well as the films of Robert Altman (Nashville, Gosford Park, McCabe and Mrs. Miller).
“Where are they these days? They don’t exist, unfortunately, or they’re very few and far between,” he continued. “And it’s like, let’s get the audience to remember that that stuff is just as worthy of being on the big screen as the big tentpole films, the big blockbusters.”
He added “if we can bring that back, we can continue to keep theaters thriving, keep these mom-and-pop theaters open and alive. So, yeah, we’re trying. We’re trying here.”
Baker is known for making incredibly small-budget films like Tangerine and The Florida Project, and he’s far from the first filmmaker to suggest that the modern Hollywood ecosystem is broken. Martin Scorsese ran afoul of many in the film community after suggesting that Marvel movies were crowding other things out of theaters, and other directors like Jane Campion, Francis Ford Coppola, and Oliver Stone have also bemoaned this shift.
In a post on X, Baker clarified that he didn’t intend to go after horror films.
There are some who think I’m slamming horror films,” he said. “I grew up on horror films, I love horror films, I’d never slam horror films. What I said in the AP interview is that I wish studios would produce more adult dramas as well as the staple genres for theatrical release.”
