Back in 2019, Benny and Josh Safdie unleashed Uncut Gems, an electrifying, stress-inducing thriller that made audiences see Adam Sandler in a different light thanks to his portrayal of Howard Ratner, one of the decade’s most unforgettable characters. It felt like the arrival of a new directing duo to rival the Coen Brothers. However, since then, much like the Coens, the filmmaker siblings have chosen to go their separate ways creatively, and now Benny is explaining why.
In a new interview promoting his 2025 movie release with Empire, Benny Safdie addressed why he and his brother Josh decided to pursue separate projects after the success of Uncut Gems. The director explained that the decision wasn’t the result of a falling out, but rather a natural progression in their careers. He expounded:
We had started out making movies separately, in college. And then we were always working towards something, and when we reached that place it was almost like, ‘Oh, well, what now?’
The Good Time co-director went on to say that, with no clear next step mapped out, each brother followed his own creative interests. The filmmaker continued:
Then it was like, ‘I’m interested in this,’ and, ‘I’m interested in this,’ and then you want to figure that out. It just felt like a continuation of a process.
The result is two highly anticipated Safdie projects arriving within months of each other. Benny has stepped behind the camera for the upcoming The Smashing Machine, where he has directed Dwayne Johnson in what’s shaping up to be one of his most transformative performances yet.
Meanwhile, Josh has been working on the upcoming A24 movie Marty Supreme, a film about a ping-pong champion starring Timothée Chalamet. While that sounds like not the most thrilling of premises, the flick looks far more intense based on the trailer than I would have expected.
The Heaven Knows What filmmakers aren’t the first acclaimed sibling directors to pursue separate paths. The Wachowskis, the Farrelly brothers, and most recently the Coens all made headlines when they stopped co-directing. Most notably after The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, fans were left questioning why the Coen Brothers ended their decades-long run of iconic collaborations like Fargo and No Country for Old Men. In each case, the split wasn’t about conflict but about exploring new creative directions individually.
Even while working separately, the Safdies’ films still carry the same DNA. Benny compared their creative process to therapy, describing filmmaking as a way of laying all your thoughts and emotions on the table, examining them, and then putting them back together. He recalled a metaphor from a therapist:
The way they treat cancer is they take the blood out of the body, run it through this machine that blasts it with radiation, and then it goes back in your body — and that’s what we’re doing here. We’re taking all of your thoughts and feelings and putting it out on the table. We’re looking at it, seeing things, acknowledging things, and then we’re putting it right back in. That’s a pretty good description of what movies do.
The split between the filmmaking brothers may seem negative to their fans. However, there's no need to worry. For audiences, this separation means even more storytelling from the Safdies, which is certainly something to look forward to.
Benny’s The Smashing Machine arrives in theaters on October 3, while Josh’s Marty Supreme is expected on December 25. The frantic rush of Uncut Gems may be behind them, but the Safdie brothers are still moving full speed ahead, just on different tracks.
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