She is best known for her feature film debut A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, self-described as "the first Iranian vampire spaghetti western" that made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, and which was based on a previous short film that she wrote and directed, which won Best Short Film at the 2012 Noor Iranian Film Festival.

Amirpour was born in Margate, England, and moved to Miami, Florida with her family when she was young. Her family then settled in Bakersfield, California, where she attended high school.

Later, she attended San Francisco State University as an art major for her undergraduate degree, and then graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television  She has been making films since she was 12 years old.

Feature films

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

The Bad Batch (2016)

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon and Cliffhanger (2021)

Amirpour's feature directorial debut was A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, self-described as "the first Iranian vampire spaghetti western" "with elements of film noir and the restraint of Iranian New Wave cinema" and starring Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Dominic Rains, Mozhan Marnò and Rome Shadanloo.

The film built up significant buzz when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, eventually being picked up by Kino Lorber and distributed by VICE films.

The film also won the "Revelations Prize" at the 2014 Deauville Film Festival and the Carnet Jove Jury Award, as well as the Citizen Kane Award for Best Directorial Revelation from the Sitges Film Festival. The film was also nominated for the Halekulani Golden Orchid award at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

“As an artist, and for me personally, my biggest fear is categorization. I hate the idea that I would become someone who says that "this is what I do and now that's what I am." What I really feel like is an explorer. I want to continue exploring my brain cave and see what's there, you know? And I don't want to just stay in one cave.”