--- name: "Sam Taylor-Johnson" canonical: "https://film.one/person/sam-taylor-johnson" fi1m_id: "sam-taylor-johnson" imdb_id: "nm0853374" tmdb_id: 1137903 wikidata_id: "Q1273122" roles: ["Director"] born: "4 March 1967" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 56 average_as: "director" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-10-01T20:54:45.816767+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." --- # Sam Taylor-Johnson ## Identity Sam Taylor-Johnson - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sam-taylor-johnson - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** sam-taylor-johnson - **IMDb ID:** nm0853374 - **TMDB ID:** 1137903 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1273122 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Taylor-Johnson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1273122, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0853374/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1137903 Director. Born 4 March 1967 in London, England, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 4 March 1967, London, England, UK - **Active:** 2009–present - **Also known as:** Sam Taylor-Wood, Сем Тейлор-Джонсон - **Frequently works with:** [Matt Greenhalgh](https://film.one/person/matt-greenhalgh.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 56, as director, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 72 (1), 2010s 49 (1), 2020s 48 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 56 to 52 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 2 under 60 - **Genres:** Drama 3, History 1, Music 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1 - **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $627m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Taylor-Johnson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1273122, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0853374/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1137903 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Nowhere Boy*](https://film.one/film/nowhere-boy.md) (72) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Sam Taylor-Johnson > Sam Taylor-Johnson is good with actors and too protective of the people they play. We value the performances she draws out, but her films too often settle for a sympathetic romance when the story needs more scrutiny. In *Back to Black* (2024), Amy Winehouse sings in the front room while her family joins in. Marisa Abela takes the high line, with Lesley Manville's Cynthia at the piano. Taylor-Johnson finds something worth watching in the pleasure these people take in making music together. She is alert to what actors can do in a small room. We are less convinced by her judgement about which story those performances should serve. Her feature debut, *Nowhere Boy* (2009), found an edge in the young John Lennon that the later musician portrait lacks. *Fifty Shades of Grey* (2015) took her into erotic romance, where her sympathy for the central character was a sensible starting point. She then co-wrote and directed *A Million Little Pieces* (2019), before returning to a musician's life with *Back to Black*. The material changed, but the preference for telling a story from the subject's perspective remained. *Fifty Shades of Grey* shows both the value and the limits of that sympathy. Working from Kelly Marcel's adaptation of E.L. James's novel, Taylor-Johnson allows Dakota Johnson to give Anastasia Steele wit and curiosity. We were frustrated because those flashes of playfulness made the repetitive courtship feel like a missed opportunity. Christian Grey's expensive surroundings register more clearly than his appeal, and the film gives his rules more attention than her uncertainty. There is care in taking the attraction seriously, but too little explanation of why this particular man should hold her interest. In *Back to Black*, the problem is more damaging because the film keeps making Winehouse's story gentler. Screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh and Taylor-Johnson decide early that this is a love story, and Amy's relationship with Blake becomes their chief concern. Abela is good enough to make us stop measuring her against Winehouse, but that achievement cannot excuse how kindly the film treats everyone around her. The kitchen scenes with Manville have more to offer than the romance, because the performances hold our attention without needing us to approve of anyone. Her preference for close-ups suits a director whose actors give us reasons to keep watching through these disappointments. Start with *Nowhere Boy* if the safer choices in the later films have put you off. We would welcome another film willing to be that sharp about its subject. ## Biography Sam Taylor-Johnson (also credited as Sam Taylor-Wood) is an English film director and former artist. Born in London in 1967, she was associated with the Young British Artists movement as a photographer and video artist before moving into directing. Her feature directorial debut was the 2009 biopic *Nowhere Boy*. She went on to direct *Fifty Shades of Grey* (2015) and the 2024 Amy Winehouse biopic *Back to Black*. She has also directed episodes of the series *Gypsy* (2017) and *Hunters* (2020), and the film *A Million Little Pieces* (2019). Taylor-Johnson received an OBE for services to the arts in 2011. She has collaborated repeatedly with screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, thefamouspeople.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Back to Black* (2024), Fi1m 48, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/back-to-black.md) - *Fifty Shades of Grey* (2015), Fi1m 49, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/fifty-shades-of-grey.md) - *Nowhere Boy* (2009), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/nowhere-boy.md) ## Complete filmography (38) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Back to Black* (2024), Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 48, [page](https://film.one/film/back-to-black.md) - *Solos* (2021), series, Director, Executive Producer - *Hunters* (2020), series, Director - *A Million Little Pieces* (2019), Director, Screenplay, Producer - *Gypsy* (2017), series, Director - *Fifty Shades of Grey* (2015), Director — Fi1m 49, [page](https://film.one/film/fifty-shades-of-grey.md) - *James Bond Supports International Women's Day* (2011), Director - *Nowhere Boy* (2009), Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/nowhere-boy.md) - *Love You More* (2008), Director, Producer - *Sigh* (2008), Director - *Three Minute Round* (2008), Director - *That White Rush* (2007), Director - *The Servant* (2007), Director - *The Last Century* (2006), Director - *Destricted* (2006), Director, Writer - *Death Valley* (2006), Director - *After Van Halen* (2005), Director - *David* (2004), Director - *Ascension* (2003), Director - *Strings* (2003), Director - *Prelude in Air* (2002), Director - *A Little Death* (2002), Director - *Still Life* (2001), Director - *Mute* (2001), Director - *Pieta* (2001), Director - *Breach (Girl & Eunuch)* (2001), Director - *Hysteria* (1999), Director - *Third Party* (1999), Director - *Method in Madness* (1998), Director - *Noli Me Tangere* (1998), Director - *Atlantic* (1997), Director - *Knackered* (1996), Director - *Misfit* (1996), Director - *Travesty of a Mockery* (1995), Director - *Brontosaurus* (1995), Director - *Pent-Up* (1994), Director - *Killing Time* (1994), Director - *Middlesex*, Director ## Gallery - ![Sam Taylor-Johnson](https://film.one/media/person/11713/gallery-00774b258a3d.jpg) Sam Taylor-Johnson — Nick Step, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Sam_Taylor-Wood_%26_Aaron_Johnson_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Glasto2023 (369 of 468)](https://film.one/media/person/11713/gallery-14da71174be4.jpg) Glasto2023 (369 of 468) — Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Glasto2023_%28369_of_468%29_%2853009100874%29.jpg/1280px-Glasto2023_%28369_of_468%29_%2853009100874%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![The Baltic](https://film.one/media/person/11713/gallery-199ed6f92e06.jpg) The Baltic — Tellyaddict at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/The_Baltic_Arts_Centre.jpg/1280px-The_Baltic_Arts_Centre.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won, 1 nominated - Officer of the Order of the British Empire 2011: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (won) - European Film Award for Best Short Film 2008: European Film Award for Best Short Film (nominated), for *Love You More* *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/sam-taylor-johnson