Tamar-kali
Composer · Born October 8, 1979 (47) · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Brooklyn born and bred artist Tamar-kali is a second-generation musician with roots in the coastal Sea Islands of South Carolina. As a composer, Tamar-kali has defied boundaries to craft her own unique alternative sound. Her debut LP "Black Bottom" challenged the alt-rock norm with media calling it "an ambitious new adventure into metal, classical, and progressive styles,"[Sonic Scoop]. The pieces she composes and arranges for her string sextet and voice project, Psychochamber Ensemble, marry the classical music of her Catholic upbringing with post-punk sensibilities. As a performer, Tamar-kali speaks her lyrical truth with a supreme passion and a voice that will shake your foundation and shatter your expectations with its soulful intensity. 2017 marked her debut as a film score composer with Dee Rees' Oscar-nominated Mudbound. Her "expressive and varied score" [Variety] garnered her the World Soundtrack Academy's 2018 Discovery of the Year Award and has been classified by Indiewire as one of the 25 Best Film Scores of the 21st Century. The soundtrack for her score to Josephine Decker's psychological drama Shirley was named The Guardian's Contemporary Album of the Month in June 2020. Her most recent work, the opera short We Hold These Truths directed by Peabody award winner dream hampton, premiered in 2022 as the opener of LA Opera's digital season.
Read moreShow less
Biography from IMDb.
- October 8, 1979 (47)
- Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
- Composer
- 17 on MovieCove
What are Tamar-kali's films like?
Across their 16 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Self.
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 0 · Earnest 16
Light 2 · Serious 8 · Dark 6
Grounded 15 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
Gentle 3 · Charged 7 · Intense 6
Steady 9 · Shifting 6 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 13 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 1
Slow burn 10 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 11 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 7 · Heavy 9
Resolved 9 · Open-ended 7 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet10
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous2
- Other1
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 Tamar-kali's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 13 of their 17 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (6).
Subscription and free streaming for Tamar-kali'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
17 credits, 17 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Chasing Summer(2026)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
The Fire Inside(2024)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Blink(2024)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Shirley(2024)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
After Sherman(2022)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
Mixtape(2021)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
Palmer(2021)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Shirley(2020)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
John Lewis: Good Trouble(2020)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Last Thing He Wanted(2020)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films
The Assistant(2019)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
The Lie(2018)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Come Sunday(2018)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
Mudbound(2017)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Pariah(2011)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 15 titles from 2011 to 2026.
Biggest box office
The Fire Inside (2024)
Highest rated
Mudbound (2017)
Most popular right now
Palmer (2021)
Film career
- 2011Screen debut· Pariah
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 Tamar-kali's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 68th percentile, the median of all 17; across their 16 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 77th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 50th to 74th6
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
8 of their 17 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Panned1
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser8
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the sound and music 68/100 in their films, across 13 reviewed titles; fans 75, detractors 47. The element that speaks to their work as a composer.
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 Tamar-kali's work okay for kids?
Across up to 7 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity, profanity and alcohol & drugs run heavier than most 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 Tamar-kali work with?
People who share at least 2 of Tamar-kali's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Dee Rees shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Dee ReesShared titles: The Last Thing He Wanted (2020), Mudbound (2017), Pariah (2011)See all 3 shared titles with Dee Rees
- Josephine DeckerShared titles: Chasing Summer (2026), Shirley (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Josephine Decker
Cinematographers and editors
- Mako KamitsunaShared titles: The Last Thing He Wanted (2020), Mudbound (2017), Pariah (2011)See all 3 shared titles with Mako Kamitsuna
- David BarkerShared titles: Chasing Summer (2026), Shirley (2020)See all 2 shared titles with David Barker
- Keith WalkerShared titles: Little Richard: I Am Everything (2023), John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Keith Walker
- Blair McClendonShared titles: After Sherman (2022), The Assistant (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Blair McClendon
Producers
- Ali JazayeriShared titles: Chasing Summer (2026), Mudbound (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Ali Jazayeri
- David GendronShared titles: Chasing Summer (2026), Mudbound (2017)See all 2 shared titles with David Gendron
- Cassian ElwesShared titles: The Last Thing He Wanted (2020), Mudbound (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Cassian Elwes
Mixed roles
- Rachel MorrisonShared titles: The Fire Inside (2024), Mudbound (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Rachel Morrison
