The multiple Academy Award-nominated director, Yorgos Lanthimos, is currently questioning the continuation of his film career. Lanthimos is arguably one of the most prominent filmmakers of current times, with his collaborations with actress Emma Stone being the most celebrated. The Favorite, Poor Things, and Kinds of Kindness are just some of the examples. But the director has recently hinted at an uncertain future for himself in the films, which has got every cinephile worried.

What could be the reason behind Yorgos Lanthimos being so skeptical about his career after making so many great movies?

Yorgos Lanthimos promoted his new photography exhibition in his hometown of Athens, Greece, at Onassis Stegi, in an interview with the Financial Times. It was also informed that after a decade, the director has moved back to his hometown, which is indicated to be because of exhaustion.

“It became overwhelming. I needed a break,” the 52-year-old director said about moving back.

According to him, photography is currently the joy of his life. It is freeing in many ways. One does not have to have a concept; it does not require an end goal, and it does not warrant financing. It is something one can do all alone, and this has proved to be kind of meditative for him. However, the main question here is whether he will ever come out of his photography phase to make movies?

“At this point I am saying, ‘Will I make more films? I don’t know, we will see.’ I need to find again the joy in making films. I want to let it come naturally, instead of pushing myself,” answered Lanthimos.

Lanthimos views the death of humanity at the end of his most recent film, Bugonia, as a metaphor for his own filmmaking career and asserts that he will require a rebirth before producing new films. In a way, he suggests that someday he might come back to the director’s chair. But whether that be sooner or later remains to be seen.

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Anyhow, this is not the first time the director has revealed about taking a break from making films.

In an interview with Collider last year, Yorgos Lanthimos acknowledged that he had officially run out of juice and needed to take a step back because he could no longer work at the pace he had been maintaining for the previous several years. In the span of just three years, he has given three films - Poor Things (2023), Kinds of Kindness (2024), and Bugonia (2025) - all of which are Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone collaborations.

“Well, I can’t keep doing that anymore. That’s what I’m certain of right now. It’s a big mistake. I think I need a break. I’ve said that before in between the other three, but I’m serious now. You can hold me to it,” said the director.

Lanthimos might be taking a break from filmmaking, but he still has two ongoing projects that he can, of course, resume if he ever feels the need to do so. The projects include an adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh's thought-provoking book My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Jean-Patrick Manchette's short story Fatale, which is about a female assassin.

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