106 SHARES Facebook Twitter

Yorgos Lanthimos has been quietly building his filmography for decades. Studying theatre directing in Greece, the filmmaker is having his best year to date with the rapid critical, awards, and box office success of “The Favourite.” Earning near-universal acclaim and now well into the grind of awards season, “The Favourite” feels like a crowning achievement for the filmmaker. The road to “The Favourite” has been just as fascinating; the director has created some of the most interesting pieces of modern cinema with his own idiosyncratic style and collaborations.

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2019 We’ve Already Seen

Lanthimos, whether on purpose or by happenstance, has created the Greek Weird Wave. With early ventures like “Dogtooth,” and “Alps,” Lanthimos became well-known to the wider filmmaking community with his deeply eccentric works often both disturbing and hilarious in equal measure. Unnerving audiences with body movements as a visual language rather than his words, creating an austere world that required further investigation, the filmmaker created a unique body of work.

WATCH: Dance, Movement, Freedom, & Intimacy: NSFW Study Of The Films Of Yorgos Lanthimos

It wasn’t until “The Lobster” that American audiences began to really take notice. Earning his first Oscar nomination, Lanthimos’ dystopian future of relationships and loneliness catapulted his name working with the likes of Colin Farrell, John C. Reilly, and future ‘Favourite’ collaborators Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman. 2015 became the year Lanthimos ingratiated himself with greater Hollywood; working alongside marquee name actors and seeing wider distribution.

READ MORE: The Best Cinematography of 2018

With such a distinct voice, Lanthimos hasn’t lost what made “Alps” and “Dogtooth” such stirring pieces of modern cinema. 2017’s “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” further proved his ability to harness the mood of disquiet while utilizing A-list stars to convey his bleak vision. Playing with elements of horror and maintaining an unsettling quality brought out by the film’s actors, the filmmaker’s influence and cinematic power only grew.

WATCH: The Beating Heart Of Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘The Killing Of A Sacred Deer’

And it all leads to this moment. With some inspirational notes on Stanley Kubrick‘s uproarious “Barry Lyndon,” ‘Favourite’ feels almost like an absurdist takedown on the classic, stuffy period-piece dramas audiences have been accustomed to for decades.

“The Favourite” pits a war of women over affections set against the backdrop of British politics and war with discomfort, vulgarity, and hypnotic performances from its cast. It’s likely Lanthimos’s most accessible film for those who have yet to fully embrace his unusual brand of filmmaking. But with the movie’s success so far, a hit no matter what happens at the Oscars, hopefully, it means Hollywood has embraced Lanthimos’ weird wave, paving the way for more exciting collaborations and the subsidization of more deliciously high-concept projects.

Watch the full conversation with Yorgos Lanthimos from the Film Society of Lincoln Center.