Terrence Malick
Known for
Terrence Malick is an American director born in Ottawa, Illinois, celebrated for a meditative, image-driven style built around voiceover, natural light, and philosophical rumination. Badlands and Days of Heaven established his reputation for lyrical, elliptical storytelling shot largely during magic-hour natural light, after which Malick disappeared from filmmaking for two decades. The Thin Red Line, his war-film return, replaced conventional combat narrative with fragmented philosophical meditation on nature and mortality, while The Tree of Life expanded this approach to cosmic scale, tracing a Texas family alongside the origins of the universe itself. The New World and A Hidden Life continued his increasingly impressionistic, dialogue-sparse style, and Malick's influence on the visual grammar of contemplative, nature-driven cinema has made him one of the most distinctive and widely imitated auteurs in American film.
Terrence Malick
22 Directed
Terrence Malick is an American director born in Ottawa, Illinois, celebrated for a meditative, image-driven style built around voiceover, natural light, and philosophical rumination. Badlands and Days of Heaven established his reputation for lyrical, elliptical storytelling shot largely during magic-hour natural light, after which Malick disappeared from filmmaking for two decades. The Thin Red Line, his war-film return, replaced conventional combat narrative with fragmented philosophical meditation on nature and mortality, while The Tree of Life expanded this approach to cosmic scale, tracing a Texas family alongside the origins of the universe itself. The New World and A Hidden Life continued his increasingly impressionistic, dialogue-sparse style, and Malick's influence on the visual grammar of contemplative, nature-driven cinema has made him one of the most distinctive and widely imitated auteurs in American film.
Latest Trailers
Watch Trailer
Ennio
Full Filmography
Towards a Dream in the USA
Director
2022
Film
Leading the Electric Revolution and Sustainability
Director
2021
Film
A Hidden Life
Director
2019
Film
Filmed on Pixel 3
Director
2018
Film
Together
Director
2018
Film
Song to Song
Director
2017
Film
Mon Guerlain: Notes of a Woman
Director
2017
Film
Knight of Cups
Director
2015
Film
To the Wonder
Director
2013
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Terrence Malick and where are they from?
Terrence Malick is 82 years old, born on November 30, 1943 in Ottawa, Illinois, USA.
What are the most famous roles of Terrence Malick?
Terrence Malick is best known for directing The Tree of Life, The Thin Red Line, Badlands.
How many movies has Terrence Malick directed?
Over a 57-year career (since 1969), Terrence Malick has directed or written 22 films and worked on 0 TV shows.
What was Terrence Malick's first movie?
The career of Terrence Malick began with The Way of the Wind ().
What is Terrence Malick's most recent movie or series?
Terrence Malick's most recent release is Towards a Dream in the USA, which premiered on September 5, 2022.
Terrence Malick
1943-11-30 · Ottawa, Illinois, USA
Terrence Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning over five decades, Malick has directed nine feature films. He is known for his singular style that combines loose narrative and editing structure with spiritual themes.
Malick made his feature film debut with Badlands (1973), a crime drama loosely inspired by the Starkweather-Fugate murders. He followed it with Days of Heaven (1978), a lyrical period drama about migrant laborers in the Texas Panhandle, which earned widespread acclaim for its cinematography. After this success, Malick took a two-decade hiatus from filmmaking before returning with The Thin Red Line (1998), an ensemble war epic set during the Battle of Guadalcanal, based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound.
He continued with The New World (2005), a meditative historical drama depicting the story of Pocahontes and the founding of Jamestown. Malick achieved critical prominence with The Tree of Life (2011), an ambitious family drama that won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is frequently cited as one of the greatest films of the 21st century. This was followed by a series of more experimental, impressionistic works including To the Wonder (2012), Knight of Cups (2015), and Song to Song (2017), which explored themes of love, faith, and modern alienation through fragmented narrative and visual storytelling. Malick also directed the large-scale documentary Voyage of Time (2016), a cosmic history of the universe released in both IMAX and feature-length versions. He later returned to historical drama with A Hidden Life (2019), about Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter during World War II.
In addition to his feature films, Malick has directed several high-profile commercials, including Mon Guerlain - Notes of a Woman (2017), a short film-style spot for Google Pixel 3 (2018), a nature-focused Ford commercial (2021) and a brand film for Louis Vuitton's USA campaign (2022).