---
name: "Jonathan van Tulleken"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jonathan-van-tulleken"
fi1m_id: "jonathan-van-tulleken"
imdb_id: "nm1743387"
tmdb_id: 1272994
wikidata_id: "Q100100587"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "1 February 1981"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 60
average_as: "director"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-21T04:27:03.557113+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jonathan van Tulleken

## Identity

Jonathan van Tulleken

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jonathan-van-tulleken
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jonathan-van-tulleken
- **IMDb ID:** nm1743387
- **TMDB ID:** 1272994
- **Wikidata ID:** Q100100587
- **Same entity:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q100100587, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1743387/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1272994

Director and producer. Born 1 February 1981 in London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 1 February 1981, London, England, UK
- **Active:** 2011–present
- **Also known as:** J. van Tulleken, Jonathan Sirett van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken
- **Average Fi1m score:** 60, as director, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 52 (2), 2020s 65 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 54 to 56 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 2 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Crime 3, Comedy 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $32m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q100100587, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1743387/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1272994

## Coming up

- *Blade Runner 2099* (2026-11-25), Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/blade-runner-2099.md)

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Dope Thief*](https://film.one/tv/dope-thief.md) (74), [*Cape Fear*](https://film.one/tv/cape-fear.md) (63), [*Lucky*](https://film.one/tv/lucky.md) (57)
- **Netflix:** [*Top Boy*](https://film.one/tv/top-boy.md) (81)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Movie 43*](https://film.one/film/movie-43.md) (24)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jonathan van Tulleken

> Jonathan van Tulleken is a capable setter of pace and visual tone, often brought in to get a television series started. We rate the craft, with reservations about how much story these programmes have to sustain it.

The opening episode of *Lucky* (2026) moves with a snap that the later instalments struggle to recover. We enjoyed that early momentum, then grew impatient when the chase began repeating and explaining itself. Jonathan van Tulleken shares the directing with Jet Wilkinson and Greg Yaitanes, so we cannot sensibly put every success or failure down to him. That distinction matters with a director whose work often involves establishing a series rather than directing every episode.

He directed the whole second series of *Top Boy* (2013), giving him a sustained stretch of British crime drama before his American opening assignments. The pilot of *Reprisal* (2019) and the first two episodes of *Shōgun* (2024) show the subsequent emphasis on getting a programme under way. *The Changeling* (2023) also brought multiple episodes and an executive producer credit. We take him seriously as a director who can establish a visual tone, though that is only part of making a series worth finishing.

His collaborators include cinematographer Christopher Ross, and close work with cinematographers is part of his method. In *Lucky*, though, Yaron Orbach and Doug Emmett photograph the roads and rooms cleanly, while Keith P. Cunningham’s motels and bars could serve almost any crime series. We wanted somewhere that felt particular to this story. Isabella Summers’s score makes a better choice, driving the chases and dropping out when the programme reaches for feeling. The restraint helps, even when the scene underneath has little to offer.

The stronger recommendation among our reviewed work is *Dope Thief* (2025), chiefly for Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura’s convincing, often funny friendship. The plotting grows tangled, but their company makes the trouble worthwhile. *Cape Fear* (2026) likewise benefits from Javier Bardem’s curdling courtesy and Amy Adams’s answering strength. Its ten episodes and nine directors leave us with another reservation about length, rather than a clear verdict on van Tulleken’s individual contribution. Start with *Dope Thief*, provided a convincing friendship matters more to the evening than tidy plotting.

## Biography

Jonathan van Tulleken is a British director. Born in London in 1981, he trained at Columbia University’s film programme.

He has directed episodes of series including *Shōgun* (2024, also executive producer on the first two), the second series of *Top Boy* (2013), *The Changeling* (2023), *Dope Thief* (2025, two episodes) and *Lucky* (2026, three episodes and executive producer). He directed the pilot of *Reprisal* (2019) and episodes of *Trust* (2018) and *Misfits*. His short films have received BAFTA nominations and screened at festivals including Toronto, Palm Springs and Slamdance. He maintains a recurring collaboration with comedian Tim Key.

Van Tulleken works in both the UK and North America. He has won one BAFTA Award.

*Sources: imdb.com, independenttalent.com, deadline.com, arts.columbia.edu.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Cape Fear* (2026), Fi1m 63, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/cape-fear.md)
- *Lucky* (2026), Fi1m 57, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/lucky.md)
- *Dope Thief* (2025), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/dope-thief.md)
- *Movie 43* (2013), Fi1m 24, Writer, Editor, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/movie-43.md)
- *Top Boy* (2011), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/top-boy.md)

## Complete filmography (20)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Blade Runner 2099* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Director — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/tv/blade-runner-2099.md)
- *Lucky* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/tv/lucky.md)
- *Cape Fear* (2026), series, Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/cape-fear.md)
- *Dope Thief* (2025), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/dope-thief.md)
- *Shōgun* (2024), series, Director, Co-Executive Producer
- *The Changeling* (2023), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Upload* (2020), series, Director
- *Reprisal* (2019), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Wonderdate* (2018), Director
- *Trust* (2018), series, Director
- *The Aliens* (2016), series, Director
- *Baguettes* (2015), Director
- *Anthony* (2014), Director, Writer
- *Movie 43* (2013), Producer, Editor, Director, Writer — Fi1m 24, [page](https://film.one/film/movie-43.md)
- *Games On: Tent* (2012), Director
- *Top Boy* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/top-boy.md)
- *The Boot Sale* (2010), Director
- *Off Season* (2009), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Pagans*, series, Executive Producer
- *Tomb Raider*, series, Executive Producer, Director

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director 2013: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director (won), for *Movie 43*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jonathan-van-tulleken