Patrick H. Willems
Patrick H. Willems is an American video-essayist and filmmaker. On his YouTube channel, 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.
In 2022 he released his feature directorial debut Night of the Coconut on Nebula. In 2025, he was named the "Director of Creative Programming" for the creator-owned streaming service.
Career
YouTube
Willems began posting videos onto his YouTube channel in 2011, posting short film skits.He then branched out into making trailers for "alternative movies." In 2013, Willems rendered Point Break in the styles of Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Tommy Wiseau, and Joe Swanberg. A 2013 short, "Breaking Bad Jr." recast children as the leads of the TV show Breaking Bad, then in its final season. It remains his channel's most-watched video, with 6.9 million views as of January 2016. In a popular 2015 video, he also showed X-Men with Anderson's directing.
In 2016, Willems uploaded his first video essay, which critiqued the colour grading of the MCU films. The video went viral, gaining over 3.2 million views as of January 2026.
In 2023 he produced The Patrick Willems Star Wars Holiday special, which featured previous channel guests.
Film projects
During video essays, Willems began incorporating short serialised skits about a coconut named Charl. The story arc closed out in his feature directorial debut, Night of the Coconut. The film was released on 3 June 2022 on the streaming platform Nebula.In 2025, Willems released his short film The Dinner Plan—starring Griffin Newman, John Hodgman, and Miriam Shor—onto Nebula.
In 2025 it was announced Willems would direct an episode of the Nebula anthology series Sub/Liminal, executive produced by Dan Jinks. Later in the same year he was appointed by Nebula as 'Director of Scripted Development'.