Derek M. Cianfrance (/ˈsiːənfræns/; born January 23, 1974) is an American film director, cinematographer, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for writing and directing the films Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines, and The Light Between Oceans, as well as the HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True. For his contributions to the story of Sound of Metal, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with its director Darius Marder, and Abraham Marder. Description above from the Wikipedia article Derek Cianfrance, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 23, 1974 (52)
- Lakewood, Colorado, USA
- Director, writer, producer and actor
- 8 on MovieCove · 15 credits in all
What are Derek Cianfrance's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 8
Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 5
Grounded 6 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0
Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 3
Steady 2 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 2
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 5
A split, not a type: Resolved 5 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
- Allyas Matt in Towheads (2013)
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet6
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Derek Cianfrance's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Derek Cianfrance's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
15 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Born Secret (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Roofman(2025)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
Exhibiting Forgiveness(2024)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
If I Was His Mother (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Sound of Metal(2019)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
I Know This Much Is True(2020)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all shows
The Light Between Oceans(2016)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Towheads(2013)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Blue Valentine(2010)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all filmsLately There Have Been Many Misunderstandings in the Zimmerman Home (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Streets of Legend (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Shots in the Dark (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Brother Tied (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
Hatchet (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 15 titles, 14 of them dated from 1998 to 2025.
Biggest box office
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
Highest rated
Sound of Metal (2019)
Most popular right now
Roofman (2025)
By role
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
2 major awards from 9 major nominations, 2003–2021.
- Oscar, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Original Screenplay
- Directors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
- Venice award, nominated · Best Film
- Cannes award, nominated ×2
- Sundance award, nominated · Dramatic
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Cinematography
- Sundance award, won · Dramatic
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Derek Cianfrance's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 85th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 82nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 25th to 49th1
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 8 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Divisive1
- Crowd Pleaser6
Reviewers score the atmosphere 78/100 and the pacing 43/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Derek Cianfrance's work okay for kids?
Across up to 5 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity and profanity run heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Derek Cianfrance work with?
People who share at least 2 of Derek Cianfrance's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Ron Patane shares the most, 4.
Writers
- Darius MarderShared titles: Sound of Metal (2019), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Darius Marder
Actors
- Ben MendelsohnShared titles: Roofman (2025), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Ben Mendelsohn
- Ryan GoslingShared titles: The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Blue Valentine (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Ryan Gosling
Editors
- Ron PataneShared titles: Exhibiting Forgiveness (2024), The Light Between Oceans (2016), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Blue Valentine (2010)See all 4 shared titles with Ron Patane
- Jim HeltonShared titles: The Light Between Oceans (2016), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Blue Valentine (2010)See all 3 shared titles with Jim Helton
Producers
- Alex OrlovskyShared titles: Roofman (2025), Towheads (2013), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Blue Valentine (2010)See all 4 shared titles with Alex Orlovsky
- Jamie PatricofShared titles: Roofman (2025), Exhibiting Forgiveness (2024), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Blue Valentine (2010)See all 4 shared titles with Jamie Patricof
- Lynette Howell TaylorShared titles: Roofman (2025), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Blue Valentine (2010)See all 3 shared titles with Lynette Howell Taylor
- Kirt GunnShared titles: Roofman (2025), Sound of Metal (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Kirt Gunn