[4] Theatre productions Curtis has worked on include the world premiere of Road, A Lie of the Mind, Roots, Dinner with Friends and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.

[7] In August 2008, Curtis directed the one-off television drama A Short Stay in Switzerland for the BBC.

[8] The drama, featuring Julie Walters, was based on the true story of Dr. Anne Turner, who decided to take her own life at a Dignitas clinic in 2006.

[14][15] In 2015, Curtis directed and executive produced the biographical film Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren as Maria Altmann, a Holocaust survivor attempting to recover a portrait of her aunt painted by Gustav Klimt which was stolen from her family by the Nazis and had eventually become property of the government of Austria, and closely connected to Austrian identity.

Curtis directed the 2019 feature film adaptation of Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain, starring Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried.

[16] In April 2021, it was announced Curtis would direct Downton Abbey: A New Era, the sequel to the first film and television series of the same name.