It’s happened to all of us: You open the newspaper, looking to check out when the new movie Lion is playing at the local movie theater, because you heard the little kid in it is really adorable. And then you see the director’s name: Garth Davis. Wait, you say to yourself — isn’t that the guy who directed Rogue One? Or is he the one who directed Sing?
It’s an understandable mistake. We’ve entered a golden age of directors with the name Gareth or Garth, and three of them alone have films coming out in the next month. As such, we decided to provide a handy guide to help you through any confusion. Here’s your first lesson: None of them are this guy.
GARTH DAVIS — THE CUTE ONE
Our first Gar(e)th is Garth Davis, the director of Lion. This Garth is an Australian who rose to prominence when he co-directed four episodes of Top of the Lake with Jane Campion. Lion — which is based on the real-life tale of Saroo Brierly, an Indian man who used Google Earth to track down his birth family — is his first feature. The film posed such directorial challenges as working with a 6-year-old non-actor and successfully dramatizing scenes in which a man stares at Google Earth on his laptop. Davis’s next film is Mary Magdalene, with Lion actor Rooney Mara as Mary Magdalene, Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter. Just like you, Garth Davis pictures Jesus as Joaquin Phoenix.
GARETH EDWARDS — THE BLOCKBUSTER ONE
Our second Gar(e)th is Gareth Edwards, the director of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Edwards is British, and his first film was a $500,000 monster movie called Monsters, a name that, like the name Gareth, might be easily confused. That film proved distinct enough to land Edwards the job of directing the 2014 Godzilla reboot, and after that movie became a critical (and mild commercial) success, he landed the Rogue One gig. Since then, he’s been mired in rumors that another filmmaker took over some of his movie. Fortunately for us, that director was not also named Gareth.
GARTH JENNINGS — THE COZY ONE
Our third Gar(e)th is Garth Jennings, the director of the upcoming animated film Sing. Jennings is also British, and he’s made two other features since 2005: the very British adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the moderately British Son of Rambow. If you had any remaining doubts that Jennings is our most British Gar(e)th, look at this picture. Helpfully, Jennings is the only Gar(e)th this year involved in an animated film. He is also the only one who gets to work with Matthew McConaughey, making him, by extension, the coolest Gar(e)th.
GARETH EVANS — THE EDGY ONE
Bonus Gar(e)th! Gareth Evans might not have a movie coming out this fall, but you’d be forgiven for thinking he did, considering his name is uncomfortably similar to Gareth Edwards’s. Evans is Welsh, and his claims to fame are the incredibly insane Indonesian action movies The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2. His next project is a thriller about Dan Stevens infiltrating a cult to rescue his sister, which, if you’ve seen The Guest or either Raid movie, should make you very excited. Evans is probably the hippest Gar(e)th, as well as the least mainstream; he’s certainly the Gar(e)th most into hammers.
