There is a formal poetry to film trilogies which, when in the hands of an auteur, can reveal new dimensions to cinematic, narrative, and thematic interests not fully contained within their individual works. Sometimes this is as simple as the direct continuation of a story, with the three-part structure best serving epics like Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. They do not always need to share characters or plotlines between films though, but may simply carry a common idea, such as the variations of spiritual belief and doubt that Ingmar Bergman explores in his Faith trilogy.
The trilogies listed here are in chronological order, based on the release of their first instalment. Not all of them are consistently made up of great films, but they are worth documenting nonetheless. To qualify for this list, a series of films must be:
1. contained to exactly three films.
For instance, this excludes the original trilogies of The Matrix, Mad Max, and Indiana Jones, since their directors continued to expand them into longer series. However, this rule does not exclude trilogies that were turned into larger franchises by other directors, such as Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy.
2. made by a single director or co-directors, preferably of auteur status.
This excludes the Star Wars original trilogy for example, since George Lucas stepped down from the role of director for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It does however include his prequel trilogy.
3. connected by a story, a character, a setting, or an idea.
This is the loosest rule, but a crucial one. What defines a trilogy is largely determined by the director and their individual fascinations, even if they retroactively decide the films to be part of a series.
25 thoughts on “An Inexhaustive Catalogue of Auteur Trilogies”
@Declan- wow, now this is an exhaustive list and an exceedingly exhausting project. Great work. I think that Alan Pakula’s Paranoia trilogy (All the President’s Men, Klute and Parallax View) might also need a closer inspection.
Thanks rujkoc, you’re absolutely right. I deliberately put “inexhaustive” in the title because I knew there would inevitably be some obvious ones that slip my mind, so I definitely welcome additions!
I think Polanski has another two trilogies. I’m not sure how to call them. But one is the Trilogy of Knife in the Water, Cul-de-sac and Death and the Maiden where a couple’s lives are turned upside down by a stranger mainly involving the above mentioned 3 characters. The other is the one involving The Tenant, Frantic and Bitter Moon where a stranger/outsider is getting squeezed by the French authorities/people.
I’ve got Argento’s in here, and unfortunately Romero dragged his original trilogy out to six films so it doesn’t quite make the cut. Branagh’s is an interesting one though – seems like he hasn’t confirmed whether he will make a fourth one so it is a trilogy for now.
I actually didn’t know Romero directed 3 more Dead films. Some trilogies are close like Magic Mike, Star Wars sequels, Star Trek reboots and Planet of the Apes reboots from Reeves. But one of them was made by a different director.
How about Gore Verbinski Pirates of the Carribean originals, Terry Jones Monty Python, Luca Guadagnino’s “Desire” Trilogy(I am Love, Bigger Splash, Call Me by Your Name), Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable Trilogy(Unbreakable, Split, Glass), Dean Deblois How to Train Your Dragon trilogy,Michael Haneke’s Glacian trilogy(The Seventh Continent, Benny’s Video, 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance), Mick Travis trilogy(If…, O Lucky Man!, Britannia Hospital) and Wim Wenders Road Movie Trlogy(Alice in the Cities, The Wrong Move, Kings of the Road)
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Great suggestions here, I’ll definitely look into each of those. I guess the hardest thing for directors like Gore Verbinski is deciding whether I would call him an auteur. I considered Jon Watts’ MCU Spider-Man trilogy but ultimately decided against it on the same grounds.
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Also it should be noted Rian Johnson’s 3rd Knives Out film is currently in production.
Soderbergh ghost directed it. Also credited there as the DP under his usual pseudonym Peter Andrews. And as editor and producer.
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Sounds a bit like George Lucas maintaining creative control over the original Star Wars trilogy even after officially stepping away from the role of director.
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Maybe. But Soderbergh being DP here is huge. He really did direct this. I think he wasn’t officially credited because he didn’t want to come out of his self-imposed retirement (2014-2016)
Two trilogies I can think of off the top of my head:
Abbas Kiarostami’s Koker Trilogy Where Is the Friend’s House?(1987) And Life Goes On (1992) Through the Olive Trees (1994))
Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Taiwan Trilogy A City of Sadness (1989) The Puppetmaster (1993) Good Men, Good Women (1995)
Roberto Rossellini’s Ingrid Bergman Trilogy Stromboli (1950) Europa ’51 (1952) Voyage To Italy (1954)
Wong Kar-Wai’s loose trilogy of 1990s whereas his “Love trilogy” is based in the 19060s era. Chungking Express (1994) Fallen Angels (1995) Happy Together (1997)
@Declan- wow, now this is an exhaustive list and an exceedingly exhausting project. Great work. I think that Alan Pakula’s Paranoia trilogy (All the President’s Men, Klute and Parallax View) might also need a closer inspection.
Thanks rujkoc, you’re absolutely right. I deliberately put “inexhaustive” in the title because I knew there would inevitably be some obvious ones that slip my mind, so I definitely welcome additions!
I think Polanski has another two trilogies. I’m not sure how to call them. But one is the Trilogy of Knife in the Water, Cul-de-sac and Death and the Maiden where a couple’s lives are turned upside down by a stranger mainly involving the above mentioned 3 characters. The other is the one involving The Tenant, Frantic and Bitter Moon where a stranger/outsider is getting squeezed by the French authorities/people.
Difficult to classify those, I’ll have to look into whether they’re officially recognised anywhere as trilogies.
The Trilogy of Death and the Maiden, Cul-de-sac and Knife in the Water is recognised here.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0056291/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv
Another three trilogies came to mind;
-George Romero’s The Dead trilogy(Night of the Living Dead(1968), Dawn of the Dead(1978), Day of the Dead(1985)
-Dario Argento’s The Three Mothers Trilogy(Suspiria(1977), Inferno(1980), Mother of Tears(2007)
-Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot Trilogy(Murder on the Orient Express(2017), Death on the Nile(2022), A Haunting in Venice(2023)
I’ve got Argento’s in here, and unfortunately Romero dragged his original trilogy out to six films so it doesn’t quite make the cut. Branagh’s is an interesting one though – seems like he hasn’t confirmed whether he will make a fourth one so it is a trilogy for now.
I actually didn’t know Romero directed 3 more Dead films. Some trilogies are close like Magic Mike, Star Wars sequels, Star Trek reboots and Planet of the Apes reboots from Reeves. But one of them was made by a different director.
How about Gore Verbinski Pirates of the Carribean originals, Terry Jones Monty Python, Luca Guadagnino’s “Desire” Trilogy(I am Love, Bigger Splash, Call Me by Your Name), Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable Trilogy(Unbreakable, Split, Glass), Dean Deblois How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, Michael Haneke’s Glacian trilogy(The Seventh Continent, Benny’s Video, 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance), Mick Travis trilogy(If…, O Lucky Man!, Britannia Hospital) and Wim Wenders Road Movie Trlogy(Alice in the Cities, The Wrong Move, Kings of the Road)
Great suggestions here, I’ll definitely look into each of those. I guess the hardest thing for directors like Gore Verbinski is deciding whether I would call him an auteur. I considered Jon Watts’ MCU Spider-Man trilogy but ultimately decided against it on the same grounds.
Also it should be noted Rian Johnson’s 3rd Knives Out film is currently in production.
Very much looking forward to that
How about Bertolucci’s Oriental Trilogy(The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha)?
Good one, I’ll add that in.
Pablo Larrain’s Jackie(2016), Spencer(2021) & Maria(2024). The last one just premiered at Venice.
Very excited for this new film. I’m not sure the trilogy has a proper name yet so I might wait a little to see if one emerges.
How about Pedro Costa’s Fontainhas Trilogy (Ossos, In Vanda’s Room, Colossal Youth)?
Nice one, I will add that in with a new update.
How about Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike trilogy?
He didn’t direct the second one.
Soderbergh ghost directed it. Also credited there as the DP under his usual pseudonym Peter Andrews. And as editor and producer.
Sounds a bit like George Lucas maintaining creative control over the original Star Wars trilogy even after officially stepping away from the role of director.
Maybe. But Soderbergh being DP here is huge. He really did direct this. I think he wasn’t officially credited because he didn’t want to come out of his self-imposed retirement (2014-2016)
How about Barry Levinson’s Baltimore Trilogy (Diner, Tin Men, Avalon)?
How about Dario Argento’s Animal trilogy(The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Four Flies on Gray Velvet, The Cat o’ Nine Tails)?
Two trilogies I can think of off the top of my head:
Abbas Kiarostami’s Koker Trilogy
Where Is the Friend’s House?(1987)
And Life Goes On (1992)
Through the Olive Trees (1994))
Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Taiwan Trilogy
A City of Sadness (1989)
The Puppetmaster (1993)
Good Men, Good Women (1995)
Roberto Rossellini’s Ingrid Bergman Trilogy
Stromboli (1950)
Europa ’51 (1952)
Voyage To Italy (1954)
Wong Kar-Wai’s loose trilogy of 1990s whereas his “Love trilogy” is based in the 19060s era.
Chungking Express (1994)
Fallen Angels (1995)
Happy Together (1997)