Jordan Downey is a writer and director from Granville, Ohio. He moved to Los Angeles at eighteen to study film at Loyola Marymount University, where he began his professional career interning at Midnight Pictures, the production banner co-founded by Wes Craven. After making his feature debut with the cult horror comedy ThanksKilling, Downey developed a distinctive filmmaking style rooted in atmosphere, economy, and bold genre storytelling. His medieval thriller The Head Hunter brought wider recognition, earning multiple festival awards and numerous Best Actor honors for breakout star Christopher Rygh. Its success led to larger opportunities, including Stork, his segment in the Critics Choice Award-nominated anthology V/H/S/Beyond. Downey’s largest film to date, The Cycle, starring Deborah Ann Woll and Jeffrey Donovan, is slated for release through IFC Films and Shudder in 2026, while his latest feature, the sci-fi survival thriller Oversear, stars Academy Award-nominated actress Maria Bakalova and Frank Grillo. Across his work, Downey remains drawn to ambitious worlds, strong emotional stakes, and the strange possibilities of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
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Biography from TMDB.
- May 16, 1986 (40)
- Newark, Ohio, USA
- Writer, director, editor, producer and actor
- 7 on MovieCove · 18 credits in all
What are Jordan Downey's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Morality.
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 2 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
Light 2 · Serious 0 · Dark 4
A split, not a type: Grounded 1 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 3
Gentle 0 · Charged 2 · Intense 4
A split, not a type: Steady 2 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 3
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 2
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 2
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 1
Resolved 2 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 2
Roles they play
- Shadowas Turkie in ThanksKilling 3 (2012)
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic1
- 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 Jordan Downey's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Jordan Downey'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, 7 with a MovieCove page.
The Cycle(2026)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
V/H/S/Beyond(2024)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
The Big Ugly(2020)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
The Head Hunter(2018)
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
Techno Western (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Red Weather (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Critters: Bounty Hunter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
ThanksKilling The Musical (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
American Psycho with Huey Lewis and Weird Al (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
ThanksKilling 3(2012)
Midcredits score: 2nd percentile of all films
iPhone Murder Apps (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
ThanksKilling(2008)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Craw Lake (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Devil's Trade (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Devil's Trade (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Hackjob (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all filmsOverride (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 18 titles, 17 of them dated from 2005 to 2026.
Film career
- 2005Screen debut· Day of the Dead 2: Contagium
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 Jordan Downey's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 28th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 26th percentile for acclaim.
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
4 of their 7 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Panned1
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the dialogue 30/100 and the plot and story 28/100 in their films, across 6 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 Jordan Downey's work okay for kids?
Across up to 5 MovieCove titles with content scores, 1 of the 5 categories sits near 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.
Who does Jordan Downey work with?
People who share at least 2 of Jordan Downey's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Kevin Stewart shares the most, 5.
Writers
- Kevin StewartShared titles: The Cycle (2026), V/H/S/Beyond (2024), The Head Hunter (2018), ThanksKilling 3 (2012), ThanksKilling (2008)See all 5 shared titles with Kevin Stewart
Actors
- Phillip Andre BotelloShared titles: The Cycle (2026), V/H/S/Beyond (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Phillip Andre Botello
- Wanda LustShared titles: ThanksKilling 3 (2012), ThanksKilling (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Wanda Lust
Composers
- Nick SooleShared titles: V/H/S/Beyond (2024), The Head Hunter (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Nick Soole
Producers
- Michael W. DowneyShared titles: The Cycle (2026), The Big Ugly (2020), ThanksKilling 3 (2012)See all 3 shared titles with Michael W. Downey
- James HarrisShared titles: The Cycle (2026), V/H/S/Beyond (2024)See all 2 shared titles with James Harris
- Ricky FosheimShared titles: The Head Hunter (2018), ThanksKilling 3 (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Ricky Fosheim
