David Mackenzie

David Mackenzie was born in Corbridge, England on May 10, 1966 and was an alumnus of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. He made a number of award-winning short films prior to his feature directing debut, "The Last Great Wilderness" (2002). Mackenzie co-wrote the film with his brother, actor Alastair Mackenzie, who also starred. David's second feature, "Young Adam" (2003), brought him considerably more exposure. The film, a tense relationship drama revolving around a drowned girl starring Ewan MacGregor and Tilda Swinton, received predominantly positive responses from critics and became an arthouse success despite its explicit sex scenes. Mackenzie next filmed the similarly controversial "Asylum" (2005), "Hallam Foe" (2007), "Spread" (2009), and the science-fiction-oriented "Perfect Sense" (2011), each one a serious relationship drama, unafraid to shy away from intense physicality. Also in 2011, Mackenzie premiered his film "Tonight You're Mine" (released in the U.K. as "You Instead"). The film, a romantic comedy about two artists who end up handcuffed together at a Scottish rock festival like Glastonbury or Coachella, was not critically lauded, but its comic focus was a significant move away from his previous work. In 2014 Mackenzie made another step forward when he released the critically acclaimed prison drama "Starred Up." The intense film, starring Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, and Rupert Friend, garnered rave reviews for its acting and direction. Mackenzie's next film was the critically-acclaimed west Texas bank robbery drama "Hell Or High Water" (2016).