Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

Justin Benson (born June 9, 1983) and Aaron Scott Moorhead (born March 3, 1987) are an American filmmaking duo. Both have served in directing, producing, editing, and acting roles in their projects, while Moorhead is also a cinematographer and Benson is a writer. Their films primarily center around science fiction or horror elements. The duo have also contributed to many television series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
Benson (left) and Moorhead (right) at the Sitges Film Festival in 2017.
Born	Justin Benson (1983-06-09) June 9, 1983 (age 41) San Diego, California, US Aaron Scott Moorhead (1987-03-03) March 3, 1987 (age 38) Tampa, Florida, US
Occupations	Film and television directors producers editors
Years active	2012–present

Personal lives

Justin Benson was born on June 9, 1983, in San Diego, California, United States.^[1] Aaron Moorhead grew up in Tarpon Springs, Florida and attended Palm Harbor University High School.^[2]

As a child, Benson was a fan of the Marvel Comics character Daredevil which later informed his contributions to several Marvel television series, notably Daredevil: Born Again.^[3]

Careers

Both directed shorts and commercials early in their careers, with Moorhead directing his first film at 19 years old.^[4]

Their first film, the 2012 horror film Resolution, was screened at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.^[5] They described their partnership as purely collaborative, and cast the lead actors after working with them in previous commercials they had worked on.^[6][7] Their follow up, the 2014 romantic body horror film Spring, premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.^[8][9] The film was publicly praised by both Richard Linklater and Guillermo del Toro.^[10][11] The pair's work can also be found in the horror anthology film V/H/S: Viral in the segment entitled "Bonestorm".^[12][13] Their film The Endless premiered in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, and was theatrically released in 2018 by Well Go USA Entertainment.^[14][15][16] The Endless, alongside their 2019 film Synchronic which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, are in the same shared universe as Resolution.^[17][18][19] Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo created and starred in Something in the Dirt which was shot in Benson's apartment due to restrictions on the film industry at the time.^[20][21] They describe their films as naturalistic and grounded, despite the science fiction or horror elements.^[22]

In television, Benson and Moorhead have contributed to multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe television series. After directing two episodes of Moon Knight, the duo were recruited as lead directors of the second season of Loki and directed four out of six episodes of the series. In 2023, after a significant creative reshuffle on Daredevil: Born Again, the two were hired as lead directors and executive producers, and, alongside new showrunner Dario Scardapane, reworked the storyline and structure of the planned first and second seasons.^[23] Benson and Moorhead are credited with directing three episodes in the show's first season, and contributed to the already-completed other six episodes.^[24] They returned as lead directors in the second season, directing the first two episodes of the season.^[25][26] Ethan Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio, stars of Moon Knight and Daredevil: Born Again respectively, both praised the filmaking team for their direction on set and creative decisions.^[27][28]

Production company

In 2017, Benson and Moorhead, alongside their producing partner David Lawson Jr., founded the film production company Rustic Films.^{[29][better source needed]}

Benson, Moorhead, and Lawson Jr., via their Rustic Films production banner, either produced or executive produced many of their own films as well as the films After Midnight (2019),^[30] She Dies Tomorrow (2020),^[31] Seperation (2020), Pruning (2023),^[32] Things Will Be Different (2024),^[33] Descendent (2025),^[34] Touch Me (2025),^[35] and Man Finds Tape (2025).^[36]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Editor	DoP	Notes
2010	A Glaring Emission	Moorhead	No	Moorhead	Moorhead	No
2012	Resolution	Yes	Yes	Benson	Yes	Moorhead
2014	V/H/S: Viral	Yes	Yes	Benson	Yes	Moorhead	Segment "Bonestorm"
2014	Spring	Yes	Yes	Benson	Yes	Moorhead
2017	The Endless	Yes	Yes	Benson	Yes	Moorhead
2019	Synchronic	Yes	Yes	Benson	Yes	Moorhead
2022	Something in the Dirt	Yes	Yes	Benson	Yes	Moorhead

Producing credits through Rustic Films

• After Midnight (2019)
• She Dies Tomorrow (2020)
• Separation (2020) (Short film)
• Pruning (2023) (Short film)
• Things Will Be Different (2024) (Executive producer)
• Touch Me (2025) (Executive producer)
• Man Finds Tape (2025)

Television

Year	Title	Director	Executive producer	Episode(s)
2020	The Twilight Zone	Yes	No	"8"
2022	Archive 81	Yes	No	"Terror in the Aisles"
				"Spirit Receivers"
	Moon Knight	Yes	No	"Summon the Suit"
				"The Tomb"
2023	Loki	Yes	Yes	"Ouroboros"
		No		"Breaking Brad"
				"1893"
		Yes		"Heart of the TVA"
				"Science/Fiction"
				"Glorious Purpose"
2025–present	Daredevil: Born Again	Yes	Yes	"Heaven's Half Hour"
		No		"Optics"
				“The Hollow of His Hand”
				"Sic Semper Systema"
				"With Interest"
				"Excessive Force"
				"Art for Art's Sake"
		Yes		"Isle of Joy"
				"Straight to Hell"

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role		Notes
		Benson	Moorhead
2012	Resolution	Justin	Aaron
2014	V/H/S: Viral	Rollerblading marine	Rollerblading marine's buddy
2015	Contracted: Phase II	Handsome officer	Less handsome officer
	Dementia	Nurse Hollings	—
2017	The Endless	Justin	Aaron
2019	After Midnight	Shane	—
2020	Seperation	Mark	—
2022	Something in the Dirt	Levi	John
	Breathing Happy	Lotus Soothing yoga voice	The golden door
2023	Loki	John Anglin	Clarence Anglin	Episode: "Science/Fiction"
2024	Things Will Be Different	Vice Grip Left	—
2025	Daredevil: Born Again	—	Bystander	Episode: "Heaven's Half Hour"