Malik Bader

Malik Bader is an American director, screenwriter and actor best known for the Chicago heist film Street Thief (2007), crime thriller Cash Only (2015) and the crime drama Killerman (2019) starring Liam Hemsworth and Zlatco Buric. Malik was born and raised in Chicago where he and his brother were prolific in the Chicago house music scene. The brothers began making movies when they were kids, inspired by their criminal surroundings. Bader is a frequent collaborator with the Actor Nickola Shreli.

What are Malik Bader's films like?

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

Themes

share of theme weight

Self

63%

Morality

16%

Survival

12%

Bonds

9%

Identity2

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films

ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category

Earnest

Tone · Sincerity

ironicearnest

Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3

Dark

Tone · Weight

lightdark

Light 0 · Serious 0 · Dark 3

Grounded

Tone · Style

naturalisticheightened

Grounded 2 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0

Intense

Feel · Intensity

gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 1 · Intense 2

Shifting

Feel · Swings

steadyswings

Steady 0 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced

Feel · Humor

noneconstant

Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Even-paced

Demand · Pace

slowrelentless

Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0

Engaged

Demand · Attention

casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0

Affecting

Demand · Emotional cost

easyheavy

Easy watch 0 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 0

Open-ended

Demand · Resolution

resolvedambiguous

Resolved 0 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1

Roles they play

1 analyzed role

Shadowas Kaspar Carr in Street Thief (2006)

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense

3

Thrilling

1

Cold

1

Melancholic

1

Dread

1

Other

1

How their films linger

Unsettling3 Bittersweet2

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 Malik Bader's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 1 of their 3 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, on Tubi (1).

Tubi1 title, browse their movies on this service
- Crush (2013) · director · free

Subscription and free streaming for Malik Bader'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

6 credits, 3 with a MovieCove page.

Pine (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
as Tree Lot Owner
Killerman(2019)
Director · Writer · as Martinez
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
Nomad (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
as Ray
Cash Only (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Director · as Kush
Crush(2013)
Director
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Street Thief(2006)
Director · as Kaspar Carr
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films

Career shape

A full career of 6 titles from 2006 to 2022.

Biggest box office

Killerman (2019)

$620K worldwide

Highest rated

Street Thief (2006)

Midcredits 79^th

Film career

2015Screen debut· Cash Only

By role

only this rolewith another role

Acting4 of 6Directing4 of 6Writing1 of 6

By decade

2000s1 · crew2010s4 · 3 acting · 3 crew2020s1 · acting

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

How do Malik Bader's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 51^st percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 31^st percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

31^stpercentile

Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

70^thpercentile

Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

86^thpercentile

Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 3 titles, by percentile

75^th and up1
50^th to 74^th1
25^th to 49^th1

Shape of the crowd

2 of their 3 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

Crowd Pleaser2
Mixed1

Most divisive · actor, director, writer

Killerman (2019)

53^rd percentile spread · 13% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · actor, director

Street Thief (2006)

Midcredits 79^th · 74% liked

Reviewers score the acting 67/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 76, detractors 39. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.

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.

Who does Malik Bader work with?

People who share at least 2 of Malik Bader's MovieCove titles; Julian Boyd shares the most, 2.