Ned Benson (born April 3, 1977) is an American filmmaker. He attended Deerfield Academy and graduated from Columbia University in 2001. Benson had a long-term relationship with Jessica Chastain, but they broke up in 2010. After working on The Westerner, Benson made his directorial debut film, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. After Chastain asked questions about the background, Benson wrote another script devoted entirely to her perspective, and she joined the cast. It was shot as two films simultaneously. They were premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival under the title The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her.Benson later edited the films into one film, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them, which premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The Weinstein Company had a limited release in September 2014. On January 16, 2019, Benson and Jac Schaeffer served as story writers for Black Widow. He was later replaced by Eric Pearson. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ned Benson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- April 3, 1977 (49)
- New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Writer, director and producer
- 5 on MovieCove · 9 credits in all
Known for
What are Ned Benson's films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
A split, not a type: Light 1 · Serious 1 · Dark 3
Grounded 4 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 1
Gentle 1 · Charged 3 · Intense 1
Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 1
Casual 1 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 3
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous2
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 Ned Benson's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 5 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Ned Benson'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
9 credits, 5 with a MovieCove page.
The Greatest Hits(2024)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Black Widow(2021)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
The Westerner (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Yes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Four Lean Hounds (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Featherwood (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 9 titles, 8 of them dated from 2003 to 2024.
Biggest box office
Black Widow (2021)
Highest rated
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)
Most popular right now
Black Widow (2021)
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 2 Cannes awards in 2014.
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 Ned Benson's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 68th percentile, the median of all 5; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 68th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th3
Shape of the crowd
None of their 5 titles divides audiences: 4 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 50/100 and the plot and story 45/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
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 Ned Benson's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 3 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Ned Benson work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ned Benson's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Ryan Lott shares the most, 4.
Actors
- William HurtShared titles: Black Widow (2021), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013)See all 3 shared titles with William Hurt
- Bill HaderShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Bill Hader
- Isabelle HuppertShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Isabelle Huppert
- James McAvoyShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 3 shared titles with James McAvoy
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Ryan LottShared titles: The Greatest Hits (2024), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Ryan Lott
- Christopher BlauveltShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Christopher Blauvelt
- Kristina BodenShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Kristina Boden
Producers
- Cassandra KulukundisShared titles: The Greatest Hits (2024), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Cassandra Kulukundis
- Abby Whitridge BermanShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Abby Whitridge Berman
- Brad CoolidgeShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Brad Coolidge
- Emanuel MichaelShared titles: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Emanuel Michael
