Zeke and Simon Hawkins

Zeke Hawkins and Simon Hawkins are independent film directors and brothers, often referred to as the Hawkins brothers.

Their directorial feature Bad Turn Worse won the Audience Award for American Independents at AFI Fest.

Early life
The Hawkins brothers grew up in Darien, Connecticut.

Career
The Hawkins brothers directed the 2013 film Bad Turn Worse, originally titled We Gotta Get Out of This Place with Simon as editor''.  The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, screened at Austin’s Fantastic Fest, and won the Audience Award at AFI Fest. The New York Times'' called it a "juicy neo-noir". It was the breakout role for the soon-to-be stars Jeremy Allen White and Mackenzie Davis. Other members of the cast included veteran actors Logan Huffman, Mark Pellegrino, William Devane and Jon Gries.

Spending more than two months living in and immersing themselves into the local Texan culture, the Hawkins brothers' interest in the horizontal landscape and low-rise architecture of the area became a key part of the film. Todd Gilchrist of IndieWire noted the film "offers the kind of clean, elegant storytelling whose emotional impact eclipses the cosmetic horrors of its counterparts while announcing the arrival of considerable new filmmaking talents.

Bad Turn Worse was released theatrically on November 14, 2013 and was acquired by Starz. In 2024, XYZ Films announced that they would be  re-releasing Bad Turn Worse and would revert the film back to its original title, We Gotta Get Out of This Place, for the re-release.