---
name: "Justin Kurzel"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/justin-kurzel"
fi1m_id: "justin-kurzel"
imdb_id: "nm0997291"
tmdb_id: 549310
wikidata_id: "Q6317793"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "3 August 1974"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-01T00:38:12.149179+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."
---

# Justin Kurzel

## Identity

Justin Kurzel

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/justin-kurzel
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** justin-kurzel
- **IMDb ID:** nm0997291
- **TMDB ID:** 549310
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6317793
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Kurzel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6317793, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0997291/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/549310

Director and producer. Born 3 August 1974 in Gawler, South Australia, Australia.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 3 August 1974, Gawler, South Australia, Australia
- **Active:** 2015–present
- **Also known as:** Justin Dallas Kurzel
- **Frequently works with:** [Jude Law](https://film.one/person/jude-law.md), [Zach Baylin](https://film.one/person/zach-baylin.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 77 (1), 2020s 74 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 72 to 69 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Crime 2, Thriller 1, War 1, War & Politics 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $18m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Kurzel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6317793, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0997291/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/549310

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Narrow Road to the Deep North*](https://film.one/tv/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north.md) (83), [*Macbeth*](https://film.one/film/macbeth.md) (77)
- **Disney+:** [*The Order*](https://film.one/film/the-order.md) (75)
- **Netflix:** [*Black Rabbit*](https://film.one/tv/black-rabbit.md) (63)

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

## Fi1m on Justin Kurzel

> Justin Kurzel gets close enough to violent men to make their ordinary behaviour frightening. We value his attention to actors, but his films work better when the music and imagery give those performances room.

At the kitchen table in *The Order* (2024), Nicholas Hoult’s gang leader looks at home, and Justin Kurzel lets us see him there as often as he shows him armed. Hoult speaks softly, with the patience of someone explaining an ordinary transaction. We were horrified by how long we could follow his sentences before registering what he was saying. That quietness is something we wish Kurzel trusted more often.

His feature debut, *Snowtown* (2011), established his interest in true-crime drama and male violence. International attention came with *Macbeth* (2015), followed by the studio project *Assassin’s Creed* (2016). He returned to Australian subjects in *True History of the Kelly Gang* (2019) and *Nitram* (2021). His regular work with writer Shaun Grant reflects the continuing interest in violence and the circumstances that encourage it.

In *Macbeth*, the opening funeral for the couple’s child makes ambition feel entangled with bereavement. Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard give the marriage enough hurt and tenderness to make this persuasive, though Kurzel sometimes lets the soldier’s distress explain away her appetite for power. Jed Kurzel’s score sustains the threat of violence. With the blood and mist pressing just as hard, it can become oppressive, and the verse needs more space. We would keep the actors’ quieter exchanges and ease the pressure around them.

*The Order* benefits from a plainer approach, even if Jude Law’s agent is a familiar type. Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw’s wide, level views of roads and pine hills keep the men small against the landscape. Karen Murphy’s production design gives the compound peeling paint and folding chairs, making it look dismally ordinary. Nick Fenton’s brisk cutting keeps the robberies legible, so we understand the space and where the danger lies. Jed Kurzel’s low strings and drone are most effective when they stop.

His direction of the final two episodes of *Black Rabbit* (2025) gives an uneven crime series a firmer grip. It cannot repair the repetitive plotting that comes before, but the danger becomes easier to care about. For a first encounter, we would choose *The Order* and leave the blood and mist of *Macbeth* for another night.

## Biography

Justin Kurzel is an Australian film director and producer. Born in Gawler, South Australia, he trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Design), and later studied at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Film and Television.

His feature debut was *Snowtown* (2011). He has since directed *Macbeth* (2015), *Assassin's Creed* (2016), *True History of the Kelly Gang* (2019), *Nitram* (2021) and *The Order* (2024), on which he also served as producer. He directed two episodes of the series *Black Rabbit* (2025). His brother Jed Kurzel has composed the score for all of his feature films.

Kurzel is married to actress Essie Davis.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, deadline.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Black Rabbit* (2025), Fi1m 63, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/black-rabbit.md)
- *The Narrow Road to the Deep North* (2025), Fi1m 83, Director, Executive Producer, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north.md)
- *The Order* (2024), Fi1m 75, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-order.md)
- *Macbeth* (2015), Fi1m 77, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/macbeth.md)

## Complete filmography (22)

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

- *Black Rabbit* (2025), series, Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-rabbit.md)
- *Ellis Park* (2025), Writer, Director
- *The Narrow Road to the Deep North* (2025), series, Director, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north.md)
- *The Order* (2024), Director, Producer — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/the-order.md)
- *Exposure* (2024), series, Executive Producer
- *The Sweet East* (2023), Thanks
- *Shantaram* (2022), series, Executive Producer
- *Nitram* (2021), Producer, Director
- *Seberg* (2019), Thanks
- *True History of the Kelly Gang* (2019), Producer, Director
- *Emu Runner* (2019), Thanks
- *Deluge* (2019), Producer
- *Stop the Horror* (2017), Director
- *Assassin's Creed* (2016), Director
- *Macbeth* (2015), Director — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/macbeth.md)
- *The Turning* (2013), Writer, Director
- *Snowtown* (2011), Story, Director
- *Castor & Pollux* (2009), Thanks
- *Blue Tongue* (2005), Director, Writer, Editor
- *Mice*, Director, Producer
- *Burning Rainbow Farm*, Director, Producer
- *Cash Burn*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Actor Jacob Elordi and Justin Kurzel at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival (2025)](https://film.one/media/person/10205/gallery-a2415482140a.jpg) Actor Jacob Elordi and Justin Kurzel at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival (2025) — Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Jacob_Elordi-65949.jpg/1280px-Jacob_Elordi-65949.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Justin Kurzel](https://film.one/media/person/10205/gallery-b1ce5fcaa69d.jpg) Justin Kurzel — Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Justin_Kurzel-67961.jpg/1280px-Justin_Kurzel-67961.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Justin Kurzel, director, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Order. (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/10205/gallery-d4cdeb7a77c9.jpg) Justin Kurzel, director, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Order. (2021) — Adam Chitayat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Justin_Kurzel_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2.jpg/1280px-Justin_Kurzel_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Justin Kurzel, director, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Order. (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/10205/gallery-e0fcc0e79daf.jpg) Justin Kurzel, director, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Order. (2021) — Adam Chitayat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Justin_Kurzel_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3.jpg/1280px-Justin_Kurzel_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Justin Kurzel](https://film.one/media/person/10205/gallery-850dcc855461.jpg) Justin Kurzel — Image via TMDB
- ![Justin Kurzel](https://film.one/media/person/10205/gallery-95fc683c1e4f.jpg) Justin Kurzel — Image via TMDB
- ![Stuart Ford, Justin Kurzel, and Bryan Haas at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Order. (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/10205/gallery-c17a78b8fa89.jpg) Stuart Ford, Justin Kurzel, and Bryan Haas at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie The Order. (2021) — Adam Chitayat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Stuart_Ford%2C_Justin_Kurzel%2C_and_Bryan_Haas_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Stuart_Ford%2C_Justin_Kurzel%2C_and_Bryan_Haas_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Sitges Film Festival Best Director award 2021: Sitges Film Festival Best Director award (won), for *Nitram*

*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/justin-kurzel