Tony Kushner

Writer, producer and actor · Born July 16, 1956 (70) · Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work Angels in America which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn of the 21st Century he became known for his numerous film collaborations with Steven Spielberg. He received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013. Kushner made his Broadway debut in 1993 with both Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America: Perestroika. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. He then adapted it into a 2003 miniseries directed by Mike Nichols for which Kushner received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Movie. In 2003 he wrote the lyrics and book to the musical Caroline, or Change which earned Kushner Tony Award nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. The 2021 Broadway revival of Caroline, or Change earned Kushner a nomination for the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, making Kushner among the few playwrights in history nominated for all four major American entertainment awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards. He has collaborated with director Steven Spielberg on the films Munich (2005), Lincoln (2012), West Side Story (2021), and The Fabelmans (2022), the former two earning him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tony Kushner, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

What are Tony Kushner's films like?

Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Morality.

Genres

Documentary4 titles66^th

Biography2 titles92^nd

Drama2 titles90^th

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

33%

Morality

23%

Bonds

15%

Society

12%

Survival

8%

Power

4%

Ideas

4%

Purpose4 Family bonds3 Identity3 Justice2 Deception3 Memory2 Grief2 Legacy2

What they feel like to watch

their average across 10 films

ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category

Earnest

Tone · Sincerity

ironicearnest

Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 10

Serious

Tone · Weight

lightdark

A split, not a type: Light 4 · Serious 1 · Dark 5

Grounded

Tone · Style

naturalisticheightened

Grounded 9 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0

Charged

Feel · Intensity

gentleintense

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

Steady

Feel · Swings

steadyswings

Steady 7 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1

Straight-faced

Feel · Humor

noneconstant

Straight-faced 8 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0

Slow burn

Demand · Pace

slowrelentless

Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0

Engaged

Demand · Attention

casualfull focus

A split, not a type: Casual 5 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 3

Affecting

Demand · Emotional cost

easyheavy

Easy watch 2 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 4

Resolved

Demand · Resolution

resolvedambiguous

Resolved 8 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 2

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative

8

Tense

4

Melancholic

5

Warm

3

Dread

2

Other

9

How their films linger

Thought-provoking4 Bittersweet5 Hopeful4 Feel-good2 Cathartic2

How their films end

Happy1
Bittersweet6
Tragic3
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 Tony Kushner's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 8 of their 9 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Subscription and free streaming for Tony Kushner'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

18 credits, 9 with a MovieCove page; 20 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

מלאכים באמריקה- בנייה מחדש (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Author
מלאכים באמריקה- המילניום מתקרב (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Author
The Fabelmans(2022)
Producer · Writer
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
West Side Story(2021)
Executive Producer · Screenplay
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Angels in America (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Theatre Play
Hacks(2021)
Show 1 episode · as Tony Kushner
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Writer
National Theatre Live: Angels In America — Part Two: Perestroika (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Theatre Play
National Theatre Live: Angels In America — Part One: Millennium Approaches (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Theatre Play
Fences(2016)
Co-Producer
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Royal Road(2015)
as (archive sound)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Still Alice(2014)
Thanks
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Lincoln(2012)
Screenplay
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Munich(2005)
Screenplay
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Angels in America(2003)
Show 6 episodes · Creator · Teleplay · Theatre Play · Writer · as Rabbi on Bench #1 (uncredited)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows
In the Wings: Angels in America On Broadway (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)
Actor
Death of a Salesman (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Producer · Writer
Ultra (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Executive Producer

Career shape

A full career of 18 titles, 16 of them dated from 1993 to 2023.

Biggest box office

Lincoln (2012)

$275M worldwide

Highest rated

The Fabelmans (2022)

Midcredits 94^th

By role

only this rolewith another role

Acting4 of 18Writing12 of 18 · 89^thProducing5 of 18Other crew2 of 18

18 titles, 4 with more than one role — writing and producing overlap on 3 of them.

By decade

1990s1 · acting2000s2 · 1 acting · 2 crew2010s6 · 1 acting · 5 crew2020s7 · 1 acting · 6 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.

How do Tony Kushner's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 89^th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 85^th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

85^thpercentile

Typical film, the median of 10

Approval · how many liked their films

87^thpercentile

Typical film, the median of 10

Reach · how many have seen their films

74^thpercentile

Typical film, the median of 10

Midcredits score across 9 titles, by percentile

75^th and up8
50^th to 74^th1

Shape of the crowd

5 of their 9 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

Universally Loved3
Crowd Pleaser5
Mixed1

Most divisive · actor

The Royal Road (2015)

67^th percentile spread · 19% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · writer, producer

The Fabelmans (2022)

Midcredits 94^th · 81% liked

Reviewers score the dialogue 64/100 and the plot and story 59/100 in their films, across 8 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 Tony Kushner's work okay for kids?

Across up to 6 MovieCove titles with content scores, profanity runs heavier than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles

Violence & Gore6 titles32–81 · median 48 · moderatenear the median of all films

Sex & Nudity6 titles13–74 · median 28 · mildnear the median of all films

Profanity6 titles46–78 · median 59 · moderateheavier than most films

Alcohol & Drugs6 titles33–43 · median 37 · moderatenear the median of all films

Frightening / Intense6 titles37–74 · median 43 · moderatenear 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.