30 Film Directors Who Have Never Made a Bad Movie

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – June 9, 2018

Recently, we looked at 30 filmmakers who made only one well-reviewed movie over their entire careers, and then 25 great directors who missed out on perfection by just one film. But there is an even more elite group of film directors who have received critical acclaim for every single film they ever directed. In other words, they've never received anything but a green Metascore for one of their features.

How many of those directors can you guess? Check them all out in the gallery above. Note that we only looked at directors who have made at least five films since 1980.

5 of 30 photo by Hooman Bahrani - © Broad Green Pictures

Ramin Bahrani

Another film festival regular and possibly North Carolina's top working filmmaker, the Iranian-American director has impressed reviewers with his five features to date, especially 2008's Goodbye Solo, which traces the unlikely friendship between an immigrant taxi driver and a despondent senior citizen.

Note that Bahrani's short 2000 debut Strangers screened at Cannes but was never theatrically released and thus does not have a score. (Since we are only including theatrical features, Bahrani is also off the hook for his recent—and uncharacteristically disappointing—HBO film, Fahrenheit 451).

The full filmography (as director):
71 Man Push Cart (2005)
83 Chop Shop (2007)
89 Goodbye Solo (2008)
61 At Any Price (2012)
76 99 Homes (2014)

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