Rise to Fame
Killing Eve needed a new showrunner in 2018 when Phoebe Waller-Bridge stepped back, reportedly to focus on Fleabag, and Fennell took over, writing 6 of the season's 8 episodes. That earned her two Emmy nominations, but the real breakthrough was Promising Young Woman. Written, directed, and shot in 23 days on a $10 million budget, the film won her the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2021, making her only the 6th woman ever nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. She'd sold the script to Margot Robbie's LuckyChap Entertainment by pitching just the opening scene.
In the Spotlight
Saltburn arrived in 2023 with Amazon paying $75 million for distribution rights before it screened anywhere. It became one of the most-streamed titles on Prime Video after its December release, with Barry Keoghan's bathtub scene doing more for its cultural moment than any review. Wuthering Heights followed in early 2026, cleared $234 million worldwide, and proved she can open a movie. The 57% on Rotten Tomatoes tells a different story. She's built a filmography where the audience arrives but the critics are keeping score.
Side Notes
Her father Theo Fennell is a jeweler to Elton John, Madonna, and the Beckhams, which explains certain things about her aesthetic. She attended Marlborough College alongside the current Princess of Wales, had her 18th birthday written up in Tatler, and met Phoebe Waller-Bridge on a 2011 film set where their combined screentime amounted to one hat brim and one foot. Before directing anything, she published children's horror novels, starting with Shiverton Hall in 2013. Saltburn, at least in terms of class anxiety and country estates, was personal research.