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Motif
Mike Olenick

Mike Olenick

Editor

Mike Olenick makes perverse genre films focused on photography, forbidden desire, reproduction, transformation, memories, and outer space. His films have screened at Fantastic Fest and Fantasia, streamed on MUBI, played on Dutch television, and have won awards at the Slamdance Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Cinematexas, Big Muddy Film Festival, and Nightmares Film Festival, among others. In 2016 he was one of the inaugural fellows at Shudder Labs, where he developed a script for a sci-fi / horror feature. Mike has worked as an editor of projects for Guy Maddin (including The Forbidden Room and Keyhole), Michael Robinson, Kelly Reichardt, the Quay Brothers, Lucy Raven, and Sadie Benning. Since 2003 he has edited numerous works for Jennifer Reeder, including A Million Miles Away, Blood Below the Skin, and Knives and Skin. Works he's edited are in the collections of MoMA and the Tate. Mike received his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art with an emphasis in Photography and a BFA in Media Studies from the Columbus College of Art & Design. He was a fashion “do” in Vice Magazine and his love of cats has been documented on Buzzfeed. When he is not putting together a jigsaw puzzle or drawing cats he is working on the script for a sci-fi / soap opera / thriller.

Read more

Biography from TMDB.

Works as
Editor
Titles
3 on Motif · 26 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 39 days to Oct 28Down 34% in 30 days

What are Mike Olenick's films like?

Across a limited sample of 3 Motif titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Self.

Themes

share of theme weight
Survival
37%
Self
35%
Bonds
16%
Society
11%

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 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 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 0

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

Grounded 1 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1

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

Gentle 1 · Charged 2 · Intense 0

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

A split, not a type: Steady 1 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 2

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

Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 0 · 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 1 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 1

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 2 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 0

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

Resolved 1 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 1

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
2
Hopeful
1
Absurd
2
Warm
1
Melancholic
1
Other
1

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 Mike Olenick's films?

As of October 24, 2026, all 3 Motif titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Mike Olenick's titles on Motif; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Motif 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

26 credits, 3 with a Motif page.

  • Cat and Mouse (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2026)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Producer · Production Design · Writer

  • Please Be Tender (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2024)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Writer

  • Gary (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2024)

    Editor

  • Night's End(2022)

    Editor

    Motif score: 3rd percentile of all films

  • They/Them/Us(2021)

    Editor

    Motif score: 35th percentile of all films

  • Knives and Skin(2019)

    Editor

    Motif score: 27th percentile of all films

  • I Dream You Dream of Me (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2018)

    Editor

  • Shuvit (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2017)

    Editor

  • Lola, 15 (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2017)

    Editor

  • All Small Bodies (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2017)

    Editor

  • The Cure (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2017)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Producer · Writer

  • Crystal Lake (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2016)

    Editor

  • Marietta Brimble (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2016)

    Editor

  • Blood Below the Skin (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2015)

    Editor

  • A Million Miles Away (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2014)

    Cinematographer · Editor

  • Red Luck (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2014)

    Director · as Red Luck · as The Photographer · as Male Victim

  • All the Memory in the World (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2013)

    Director

  • Girls Love Horses (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2013)

    Cinematographer · Editor

  • Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H. (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2013)

    Online Editor

  • And I Will Rise, If Only To Hold You Down (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2012)

    Editor · Producer

  • Tears Cannot Restore Her: Therefore, I Weep (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2011)

    Cinematographer · Editor

  • Seven Songs About Thunder (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2010)

    Cinematographer · Editor · Producer

  • Uyuni (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2005)

    Editor

  • Kings of the Sky (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2004)

    Online Editor

  • Travis (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2004)

    Editor

  • The Closer Stockholm (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2004)

    Editor

Career shape

A full career of 25 titles from 2004 to 2026.

Highest rated

Knives and Skin (2019)

Motif 27th

Most popular right now

Night's End (2022)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting1 of 25: 0 only acting, 1 with another roleDirecting5 of 25: 1 only directing, 4 with another roleWriting3 of 25: 0 only writing, 3 with another roleProducing4 of 25: 0 only producing, 4 with another roleCinematography7 of 25: 0 only cinematography, 7 with another roleEditing21 of 25: 13 only editing, 8 with another roleOther crew3 of 25: 2 only other crew, 1 with another role

25 titles, 9 with more than one role — editing and cinematography overlap on 7 of them.

By decade

2000s4 · crew2010s17 · 1 acting · 17 crew2020s4 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Mike Olenick's films land?

Their typical Motif film has a Motif score in the 27th percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 11th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

11thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

27thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

62ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Motif score across 3 titles, by percentile

  • 25th to 49th2
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

1 of their 3 titles is Universally Panned.

  • Universally Panned1
  • Divisive1
  • Mixed1

Most divisive · editor

They/Them/Us (2021)

97th percentile spread · 31% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · editor

They/Them/Us (2021)

Motif 35th · 55% liked

Reviewers score the pacing 31/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 52, detractors 17. The element that speaks to their work as an editor.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on Motif; 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 Motif score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their Motif 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.

Who does Mike Olenick work with?

People who share at least 2 of Mike Olenick's Motif titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jennifer Reeder shares the most, 2.

Directors

Actors

Cinematographers