Patrick Willems (filmmaker)
American video essayist and filmmaker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patrick Willems (born September 29, 1987)[2][3][4] is an American video-essayist and filmmaker. On his YouTube channel, "Patrick (H) Willems", Willems initially posted short films before transitioning into producing video essays in 2016. His video essays are about films and the state of the film industry.
Patrick Willems | |
|---|---|
Willems in 2025 | |
| Born | September 29, 1987 |
| Education | Oberlin College |
| Occupations | video essayist, filmmaker |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2011 - present |
| Genres | |
| Subscribers | 609,000 |
| Views | 73.4 million |
| Last updated: January 24, 2026 | |
| Website | www |
In 2022 he released his feature directorial debut Night of the Coconut on Nebula. He was named the "Director of Creative Programming" at Nebula in 2025.
Early life
According to Willems, his mother, who is from County Clare, Ireland, came to the United States in 1980, and met his father in Saratoga Springs,[5] where Willems would later be born and raised.[1][6]
Career
Initial short films
While attending Saratoga Springs High School, Willems formed a film club with a fellow student, Max Rouzier. They would later host a film festival at the school.[6] After graduating from Oberlin College in 2010[6] with a degree in Cinema Studies,[1] he reunited with Rouzier, and the two formed an independent film production company, Lumberjack Films, in December of that year.[6] Willems produced various commercials and short films with the company.[6][7]
Between 2013 and 2015, Willems produced a number of short films which played homage to various existing well-known productions and filmmakers.[3] These included "What if Wes Anderson Directed X-Men?", “What if Werner Herzog directed Ant-Man?”, and "Breaking Bad Jr.", which recast children as the leads of the TV series Breaking Bad.[3][7][8] He also directed "Point Break Live", a 2013 theatrical stage production which played homage to the film Point Break.[9]
Video essays
In 2016, Willems uploaded his first video essay, which critiqued the colour grading of the MCU films.[3] He has continued to produce video essays on a wide variety of film topics since.[3][10] In 2019, he collaborated with fellow video essayist Mikey Neumann on a two-part series covering the Mission: Impossible films.[11]
In 2023 he produced The Patrick (H) Willems Star Wars Holiday special, which featured previous channel guests.[12]
Film projects
Starting in 2020, during video essays, Willems began incorporating short serialised skits about a coconut named Charl.[13] The story arc closed out in his feature directorial debut, Night of the Coconut.[14][15] The film was released on June 17, 2022 on the streaming platform Nebula.[16]
In 2025, Willems released his short film The Dinner Plan, starring Griffin Newman, John Hodgman, and Miriam Shor, onto Nebula.[17]
In 2025 it was announced Willems would direct an episode of the Nebula anthology series Sub/Liminal, executive produced by Dan Jinks.[18] Later in the same year he was appointed by Nebula as 'Director of Scripted Development'.[19]
Personal life
Reception
Colin Gorenstein of Salon praised Willems' 2015 "What if Wes Anderson Directed X-Men?" short film, saying that his imitation of Anderson's visual style "checks across the board".[23] In Vulture, Sean Fitz-Gerald described it as having "just the right hint of auteur-esque pretension".[8]
In Ars Technica, Nathan Matisse praised Willems' essays.[3] Caroline Seide of The A.V. Club praised a 2017 video covering the action filmmaking of director Steven Spielberg as "another thoughtful look at cinema" from Willems.[24] In Pajiba, Alberto Cox Délano praised Willems' videos for their thorough analysis and research, entertaining narrative segments, and breadth of their coverage of the film medium.[10] Mike Redmond praised a 2020 video discussing the Star Wars franchise following the release of the film The Rise of Skywalker, calling it a "calm, rational examination".[25]
In International Policy Digest, Will Mann reviewed Willems' directorial feature debut Night of the Coconut.[15] Mann praised the film's production value, and described it as "more focused and effective" than other similar film productions made by other YouTube creators. Mann also enjoyed the film's music, humor, and performances of the lead actors, which he stated "mostly work".[15] However, Mann stated that the film would potentially be hard to follow for viewers who were not familiar with the Charl story arc from Willems' past videos.[15] In a review for We Live Entertainment, Aaron Neuwirth praised Willems' direction and the film's humor, acting, and conclusion to the Charl storyline, calling it a "fun diversion".[26]