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Michael Abels

Michael Abels

Composer · Born October 8, 1962 (64) · Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Primetime Emmy nominee · 1 other major award body

Michael Abels (born October 8, 1962) is an American composer best known for the opera Omar, co-written with Rhiannon Giddens, and his scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us and Nope. The hip-hop-influenced score for Us was short-listed for the Oscars and was even named "Score of the Decade" by TheWrap. Other recent media projects include the films Bad Education, Nightbooks, and Fake Famous, and the docuseries Allen v. Farrow. His most recent releases include Beauty, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is now streaming on Netflix; Breaking (formerly 892), which premiered at Sundance; and his third collaboration with Jordan Peele, Nope. Abels' works also include many concert works, such as At War With Ourselves for the Kronos Quartet, Isolation Variation for Hilary Hahn, and the opera Omar, co-composed with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Rhiannon Giddens. Some of these pieces are available on Cedille Records, including Delights & Dances and Winged Creatures. Recent commissions include a work for the National Symphony Orchestraand a guitar concerto for Mak Grgić. Abels is a co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective. This advocacy group increases the visibility of composers of colour in film, gaming, and streaming media. In 2023, the opera Omar, co-written by Abels and Rhiannon Giddens, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Abels, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
October 8, 1962 (64)
From
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Works as
Composer
Titles
19 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Down 1% in 30 days

What are Michael Abels' films like?

Across their 17 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.

Genres

Drama3 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 76th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Drama movies
Horror3 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 76th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Horror movies
Action2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 44th percentile
: browse their Action movies
Comedy2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 23rd percentile
: browse their Comedy movies

Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
22%
Bonds
22%
Morality
21%
Power
15%
Survival
9%
Society
9%
Ideas
3%
Family bonds7 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity6 titles, browse their movies with this themeDeception6 titles, browse their movies with this themeJustice4 titles, browse their movies with this themePurpose3 titles, browse their movies with this themeCorruption2 titles, browse their movies with this themeOppression2 titles, browse their movies with this themeFame2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 14 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Serious: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their serious movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 5 · Dark 6

Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

A split, not a type: Grounded 7 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 4

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

A split, not a type: Gentle 4 · Charged 3 · Intense 7

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

A split, not a type: Steady 4 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 7

Some laughs: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their some laughs movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 8 · Funny 1

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 12 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 2 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 4

Affecting: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their affecting movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

A split, not a type: Easy watch 4 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 6

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 5 · Open-ended 6 · Ambiguous 3

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
13
Dread
6
Melancholic
6
Absurd
4
Warm
3
Other
13

How their films linger

Thought-provoking11 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteUnsettling8 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFeel-good3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteInfuriating3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 4 with a twist

  • Happy4
  • Bittersweet6
  • Tragic1
  • Ambiguous6

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 Michael Abels' films?

As of October 24, 2026, 16 of their 19 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (5).

Subscription and free streaming for Michael Abels' 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

20 credits, 19 with a MovieCove page.

  • Behemoth!(2026)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • Hope(2026)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films

  • The 'Burbs(2026)

    Show 8 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 22nd percentile of all shows

  • Sirens(2025)

    Show 5 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all shows

  • The Acolyte(2024)

    Show 8 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all shows

  • The American Society of Magical Negroes(2024)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films

  • The Burial(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films

  • Landscape with Invisible Hand(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • Chevalier(2022)

    Music Arranger · Music Producer

    Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films

  • Breaking(2022)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films

  • Nope(2022)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • Nightbooks(2021)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • Allen v. Farrow(2021)

    Show 4 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all shows

  • Fake Famous(2021)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films

  • All Day and a Night(2020)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films

  • Bad Education(2019)

    Composer · Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films

  • See You Yesterday(2019)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films

  • Us(2019)

    Composer · Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • Get Out(2017)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • An Ode to Mary Jo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Composer

Career shape

A full career of 20 titles, 18 of them dated from 2017 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Get Out (2017)

$260M worldwide

Highest rated

Get Out (2017)

Midcredits 97th

Most popular right now

Hope (2026)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Music20 of 20: 17 only music, 3 with another role · typical Midcredits score54thOther crew3 of 20: 0 only other crew, 3 with another role

20 titles, 3 with more than one role — music and other crew overlap on 3 of them.

By decade

2010s4 · crew2020s14 · crew

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

4 major nominations and no wins, 2020–2026.

  1. 2026
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
  2. 2021
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
  3. 2020
    • Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Score

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 Michael Abels' films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 66th percentile, the median of all 15; across their 14 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 64th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

64thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 14

Approval · how many liked their films

63rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 14

Reach · how many have seen their films

90thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 14

Midcredits score across 19 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up6
  • 50th to 74th5
  • 25th to 49th4
  • Below 25th4

Shape of the crowd

9 of their 19 titles are Mixed.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Divisive1
  • Crowd Pleaser7
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed9

Most divisive · composer

Behemoth! (2026)

98th percentile spread · 29% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · composer

Get Out (2017)

Midcredits 97th · 87% liked

Reviewers score the sound and music 62/100 in their films, across 12 reviewed titles; fans 70, detractors 49. The element that speaks to their work as a composer.

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 Michael Abels' work okay for kids?

Across up to 12 MovieCove titles with content scores, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films and sex & nudity lighter.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore12 titles11–82 · median 42 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity12 titles7–40 · median 18 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity12 titles24–83 · median 62 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs11 titles22–40 · median 34 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense11 titles10–84 · median 55 · moderateheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 39

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 Michael Abels work with?

People who share at least 2 of Michael Abels' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jordan Peele shares the most, 3.

Directors

Actors

Cinematographers and editors

Producers