Dennis Gansel (born 4 October 1973) is a German film director, writer and actor. Gansel was born in 1973 in Hanover, Germany. He grew up in East Berlin and started making films when he was 17. Gansel worked in the festivals for film and television and with disabled people. During this time, he prepared himself for film school. He studied at Munich Film School HFF where he studied for 5 years. Gansel is best known for directing The Wave and his following project; the vampire film We Are The Night, which starred Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, Anna Fischer and Max Riemelt. Other than directing, Gansel has also tried acting. He has had several small roles in his own movies as wells as others. Gansel frequently casts Max Riemelt in his films and frequently works with editor Jochen Retter and composer/musician Heiko Maile. His favourite director is Sydney Pollack. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dennis Gansel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- October 4, 1973 (53)
- Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany
- Director and writer, also producer
- 13 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
What are Dennis Gansel's films like?
Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
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
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 9
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 3 · Dark 4
A split, not a type: Grounded 5 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 3
Gentle 2 · Charged 4 · Intense 4
Steady 3 · Shifting 7 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 1
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 1
Casual 5 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 5 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 4
Resolved 8 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy4
- Bittersweet4
- Tragic1
- 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 Dennis Gansel's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 9 of their 13 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for Dennis Gansel'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
20 credits, 13 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
The Tank(2025)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
Hot Girl Summer(2025)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Berlin, I Love You(2019)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
We Are the Wave(2019)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all shows
Das Boot(2018)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Mechanic: Resurrection(2016)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
The Fourth State(2012)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Room 205 of Fear (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
We Are the Night(2010)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Men in the City (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
The Wave(2008)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Before the Fall(2004)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Girls on Top(2001)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Das Phantom (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)
Living Dead (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
The Wrong Trip (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Grim Night (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Im Auftrag des Herrn (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 20 titles, 18 of them dated from 1996 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)
Highest rated
The Wave (2008)
Most popular right now
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)
Film career
- 2001Screen debut· Girls on Top
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 Sundance award in 2008, World Cinema - 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 Dennis Gansel's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 47th percentile, the median of all 11; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 51st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 13 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the atmosphere 67/100 and the pacing 52/100 in their films, across 10 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 Dennis Gansel's work okay for kids?
Across up to 6 MovieCove titles with content scores, 1 of the 5 categories sits near the median of all 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 Dennis Gansel work with?
People who share at least 2 of Dennis Gansel's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Max Riemelt shares the most, 5.
Writers
- Dirk AhnerShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Dirk Ahner
- Michael EndeShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Michael Ende
- Jan BergerShared titles: We Are the Wave (2019), We Are the Night (2010)See all 2 shared titles with Jan Berger
- Peter ThorwarthShared titles: We Are the Wave (2019), The Wave (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Peter Thorwarth
Actors
- Max RiemeltShared titles: The Fourth State (2012), We Are the Night (2010), The Wave (2008), Before the Fall (2004), Girls on Top (2001)See all 5 shared titles with Max Riemelt
- Henning BaumShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018), Girls on Top (2001)See all 3 shared titles with Henning Baum
- Annette FrierShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Annette Frier
- Christoph Maria HerbstShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Christoph Maria Herbst
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Heiko MaileShared titles: The Tank (2025), We Are the Wave (2019), The Fourth State (2012), We Are the Night (2010), The Wave (2008)See all 5 shared titles with Heiko Maile
- Ueli ChristenShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018), Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), We Are the Night (2010), The Wave (2008)See all 5 shared titles with Ueli Christen
- Torsten BreuerShared titles: Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018), We Are the Night (2010), The Wave (2008), Before the Fall (2004)See all 4 shared titles with Torsten Breuer
- Ralf WengenmayrShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Ralf Wengenmayr
Producers
- Christian BeckerShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), We Are the Wave (2019), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018), We Are the Night (2010), The Wave (2008)See all 5 shared titles with Christian Becker
- Oliver NommsenShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), We Are the Wave (2019), We Are the Night (2010)See all 3 shared titles with Oliver Nommsen
- Derrick H. MyerShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Derrick H. Myer
- Matthias RosenbergerShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Matthias Rosenberger
Mixed roles
- Michael HerbigShared titles: Jim Button and the Wild 13 (2020), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Michael Herbig
