Born in 1972 in Billericay (Essex), Ben Wheatley starts by directing some TV series episodes (Ideal, Modern Toss, Wrong Door) and at the same time shorts, ads and comics he enjoys sharing on his website, Mr and Mrs Wheatley. A success, as his videos got more than twenty million views all over the world.
In theaters, Ben Wheatley already makes a name for himself with his first feature-length film, Down Terrace (2009), a "so British" black comedy. The real revelation will be Kill List, one of the greatest discoveries of last year's L'Étrange Festival, that he co-wrote with his wife, Amy Jump. A paranoiac and misleading thriller starting like an Alan Clarke movie and ending like The Wicker Man, imperceptibly evolving from realism to fantasy, confirming an unbelievable and frightening truth. Fresh out of Kill List, Wheatley has gone on with Sightseers, a bloody ride down the English countryside, confirming his hunger for an impolite cinema, finding beauty in gratuitousness and uglyness. With only three films (in three years), Ben Wheatley established himself as one of the most interesting contemporary filmmakers in the genre. Today, who can top that?
