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Alexandre Aja

Alexandre Aja

Producer, director, writer and actor · Born August 7, 1978 (48) · Paris, France

Cannes award nominee

Alexandre Jouan-Arcady (born August 7, 1978) is a French filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror genre, beginning with his acclaimed French-language breakthrough slasher film High Tension (2003) before making the transition to American films with his remake of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (2006). He has gone on to direct other notable horror films such as Mirrors (2008), Piranha 3D (2010), Horns (2013), Crawl (2019), Oxygen (2021) and Never Let Go (2024).

Read more

Biography from TMDB.

Born
August 7, 1978 (48)
From
Paris, France
Works as
Producer, director, writer and actor
Titles
20 on MovieCove · 39 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Up 7% in 30 days

What are Alexandre Aja's films like?

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

Genres

Horror5 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 41st percentile
: browse their Horror movies
Crime4 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 30th percentile
: browse their Crime movies
Comedy3 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 55th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Comedy movies
Action2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 36th percentile
: browse their Action movies
Drama2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 58th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Drama 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
Survival
54%
Bonds
17%
Morality
15%
Self
10%
Power
3%
Society
2%
Survival10 titles, browse their movies with this themeTrauma6 titles, browse their movies with this themeFamily bonds5 titles, browse their movies with this themeGrief3 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity2 titles, browse their movies with this themeViolence3 titles, browse their movies with this themeDeception2 titles, browse their movies with this themeGuilt2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 17 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 1 · Serious 3 · Dark 13

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

Grounded 6 · Stylized 7 · Heightened 4

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

Gentle 0 · Charged 3 · Intense 14

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

Steady 2 · Shifting 9 · Whiplash 6

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 13 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 1

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

Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 7

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

Casual 1 · Engaged 12 · Full focus 4

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

Easy watch 2 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 12

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

A split, not a type: Resolved 9 · Open-ended 5 · Ambiguous 3

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
16
Dread
11
Cold
5
Melancholic
6
Thrilling
3
Other
8

How their films linger

Unsettling8 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet7 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting6 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteCathartic4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteDevastating3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 12 with a twist

  • Happy1
  • Bittersweet11
  • Tragic2
  • Ambiguous3

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 Alexandre Aja's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 16 of their 20 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Prime Video (8).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Alexandre Aja'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

39 credits, 20 with a MovieCove page; 14 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Strawberries (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2027)

    Co-Producer

  • Never Let Go(2024)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films

  • The Blond Boy from the Casbah (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Second Unit Director

  • Night of the Hunted(2023)

    Producer

    Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films

  • Under the Stars (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    as Narrator (voice)

  • Oxygen(2021)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films

  • Crawl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Director · Producer

  • Crawl(2019)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films

  • Urban Nightmares (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Show 7 episodes · Producer

  • Campfire Creepers: The Skull of Sam (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • 47 Meters Down(2017)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films

  • The 9th Life of Louis Drax(2016)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films

  • The Other Side of the Door(2016)

    Producer

    Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films

  • The Pyramid(2014)

    Producer

    Midcredits score: 6th percentile of all films

  • 24 Days(2014)

    Assistant Director

    Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films

  • Rock the Casbah(2013)

    Associate Producer · Script Consultant

    Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films

  • Horns(2013)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films

  • Maniac(2012)

    Producer · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films

  • Piranha 3D(2010)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films

  • The Esseker File (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Mirrors(2008)

    Director · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films

  • P2(2007)

    Producer · Screenplay · Story

    Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films

  • The Hills Have Eyes(2006)

    Director · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • Mixed Marriage (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)

    Second Unit Director

  • High Tension(2003)

    Director · Writer

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films

  • Break of Dawn(2002)

    Screenplay · Second Unit Director

    Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films

  • Return to Algiers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

    Second Unit Director

  • Furia (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    Director · Screenplay

  • Over the Rainbow (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)

    Director · Writer

  • Le grand pardon II(1992)

    as Alexander Atlan

    Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films

  • Brothers in Arms (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    as The child with the skateboard

  • Le Grand Carnaval (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)

    as Raphaël Labrouche

  • The Big Pardon(1982)

    as L'enfant

    Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all films

  • Crawl 2 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Dead by Daylight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Screenplay

  • Mice and Mystics (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Writer

  • Smart House (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Producer

  • The Flowers of Evil (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Screenplay

  • Under Paris 2 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Associate Producer · Writer

Career shape

A full career of 39 titles, 32 of them dated from 1982 to 2024.

Biggest box office

Crawl (2019)

$92M worldwide

Highest rated

High Tension (2003)

Midcredits 67th

Most popular right now

Mirrors (2008)

Film career

  • 1982Screen debut· The Big Pardon

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting5 of 39: 5 only acting, 0 with another roleDirecting18 of 39: 0 only directing, 18 with another role · typical Midcredits score52ndWriting16 of 39: 1 only writing, 15 with another role · typical Midcredits score47thProducing21 of 39: 7 only producing, 14 with another role · typical Midcredits score41stOther crew5 of 39: 4 only other crew, 1 with another role

39 titles, 22 with more than one role — producing and directing overlap on 11 of them.

By decade

1980s3 · acting1990s3 · 1 acting · 2 crew2000s8 · crew2010s13 · crew2020s5 · 1 acting · 4 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

Nominated for a Cannes award in 1997.

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 Alexandre Aja's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 42nd percentile, the median of all 20; across their 17 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 47th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

47thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 17

Approval · how many liked their films

44thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 17

Reach · how many have seen their films

93rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 17

Midcredits score across 20 titles, by percentile

  • 50th to 74th7
  • 25th to 49th7
  • Below 25th6

Shape of the crowd

9 of their 20 titles are Mixed.

  • Universally Panned1
  • Crowd Pleaser5
  • Broadly Agreed5
  • Mixed9

Most divisive · actor

Le grand pardon II (1992)

53rd percentile spread · 52% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director, writer

High Tension (2003)

Midcredits 67th · 64% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 66/100 and the pacing 45/100 in their films, across 17 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 Alexandre Aja's work okay for kids?

Across up to 14 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore12 titles67–95 · median 87 · severeheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity14 titles10–74 · median 33 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity12 titles33–86 · median 59 · moderateheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs12 titles6–71 · median 33 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense12 titles68–93 · median 85 · severeheavier 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 Alexandre Aja work with?

People who share at least 2 of Alexandre Aja's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Grégory Levasseur shares the most, 10.

Directors

Writers

Actors

Composers, cinematographers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles