Neil Druckmann is at his best when frightened people have time to grow attached to each other. We rate the patience of The Last of Us highly, though its supporting characters do not always receive the same care.
Fi1m perspective
In The Last of Us (2023), Joel and Ellie's growing attachment holds our attention even when the next threat is familiar. Writers Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin give them nine episodes in which to become more than people trying to stay alive. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey make that patience rewarding. We were moved by the care that develops between the pair: amid so much suffering, the series still lets them build a relationship we want to follow.
His earlier work in games helps explain that emphasis. He was creative director and writer on The Last of Us (2013) and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016), then creative director and co-writer on The Last of Us Part II (2020). Relationships remain central to his storytelling, alongside people struggling with the past and repeating violence. Co-creating the television adaptation with Mazin, and writing and directing episodes, brought those interests to a medium in which we could watch but no longer intervene. The first series makes that change feel worthwhile.
Druckmann's habit of asking how little a scene needs to say is a useful starting point for this kind of drama. It leaves space for performers, and Pascal and Ramsey make good use of it. But some supporting characters need more time than Mazin and Druckmann allow them. The scripts occasionally ask for an emotional response before we have been given enough reason to care, a shortcoming made more obvious by the attention paid to Joel and Ellie. Serious treatment cannot make every familiar apocalypse encounter interesting, either.
Druckmann stepped back from the television series in 2025 to concentrate on Naughty Dog projects, including directing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. His work with Mazin is worth remembering when discussing him as an author: the series depends on their shared writing and on what Pascal and Ramsey do with it. For the work that follows, we hope he gives the people outside the central relationship a fairer share of his attention. Start with the first television series, even if zombie stories have worn out their welcome.
Biography
Neil Druckmann is an Israeli-American writer and director. He co-created the HBO series The Last of Us (2023) with Craig Mazin, serving as writer, executive producer and director of episodes.
Druckmann was born on 5 December 1978 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is best known for his work on the video game The Last of Us (2013) and its sequel, which he co-led as writer and creative director at Naughty Dog. He later adapted the story for television.
