Borenstein wrote, edited, and directed the 2003 film Swordswallowers and Thin Men while a senior at Yale University. The film starred Peter Cellini, Zoe Kazan, Fran Kranz and Graham Norris, and featured Army Wives star Sally Pressman and Midnight's Children lead Satya Bhabha. The film won Best Feature and Best Screenplay at the New York Independent Film Festival and was named Best First Feature 2003 by Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas. Borenstein's 2008 screenplay What Is Life Worth?, based on Kenneth Feinberg's memoir of the same name, was honored with inclusion on the The Black List, an annual list compiled by Hollywood executives of their favorite unproduced screenplays. His 2009 screenplay Jimi, commissioned by Legendary Pictures and based on the life of guitarist Jimi Hendrix, was also included on The Black List. Borenstein wrote additional projects for Legendary, including Godzilla. For future projects, Borenstein will write the sequel for Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island for Legendary, Paladin for Walt Disney Pictures, and Mona for New Regency. In April 2016, Borenstein was announced as an executive producer for HBO's Vinyl's second season.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 20, 1981 (45)
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Writer and producer
- 11 on MovieCove · 14 credits in all
What are Max Borenstein's films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
Light 0 · Serious 2 · Dark 3
Grounded 1 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 1
Gentle 0 · Charged 1 · Intense 4
A split, not a type: Steady 3 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 1
Casual 0 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 1 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 3
A split, not a type: Resolved 3 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet2
- 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 Max Borenstein's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 8 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Prime Video (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Max Borenstein'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
14 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page.
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all shows
Hypnotic(2023)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
Worth(2020)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Godzilla vs. Kong(2021)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
The Terror(2018)
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all shows
Ascension(2018)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Kong: Skull Island(2017)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Minority Report(2015)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all shows
In Her Place (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Godzilla(2014)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all filmsSwordswallowers and Thin Men (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Untitled Young Lee Shaw Prequel Series (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 13 titles, 12 of them dated from 2003 to 2023.
Biggest box office
Godzilla (2014)
Highest rated
Worth (2020)
Most popular right now
Godzilla vs. Kong (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.
How do Max Borenstein's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 60th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 61st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th5
- 25th to 49th2
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 11 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the dialogue 38/100 and the plot and story 44/100 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 Max Borenstein's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 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 Max Borenstein work with?
People who share at least 2 of Max Borenstein's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Brian Rogers shares the most, 2.
Producers
- Brian RogersShared titles: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Godzilla (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Brian Rogers
- Jon JashniShared titles: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Godzilla (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Jon Jashni
- Mary ParentShared titles: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Godzilla (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Mary Parent
- Thomas TullShared titles: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Godzilla (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Thomas Tull
