Hittman was born and raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, where she was a theater buff. She graduated from Indiana University in 2001 with a BA in theater and drama, but later went on to study art and film, and in 2010 received her MFA from the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts. Hittman's first feature film, It Felt Like Love, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and opened at the IFC Center in New York in March 2014. Her second film Beach Rats, was selected for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab, had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Her third film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award for Neo-Realism. The film was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival and won Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, the second most prestigious prize at the festival.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 1, 1979 (47)
- New York, New York, USA
- Director, writer and producer, also actor
- 11 on MovieCove · 18 credits in all
What are Eliza Hittman's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Bonds.
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 5
Light 1 · Serious 0 · Dark 4
Grounded 4 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
Gentle 1 · Charged 3 · Intense 1
Steady 3 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 1 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 3
A split, not a type: Resolved 0 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet2
- Ambiguous3
- Cyclical1
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 Eliza Hittman's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on MUBI (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Eliza Hittman'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, 11 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Karnama (Well of Death) (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Realm of Satan(2024)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
Dìdi(2024)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Bust (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
A Friend of the Family(2022)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all shows
Dog Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Driveways(2019)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Matthias & Maxime(2019)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Beach Rats(2017)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
13 Reasons Why(2017)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all shows
High Maintenance(2016)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all shows
Listen Up Philip(2014)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Buffalo Juggalos (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
It Felt Like Love(2013)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Forever's Gonna Start Tonight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Second Cousins Once Removed (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Motherlove (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 18 titles, 17 of them dated from 2010 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Beach Rats (2017)
Highest rated
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
Most popular right now
A Friend of the Family (2022)
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.
Awards
3 major awards from 12 major nominations, 2011–2021.
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Director
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Screenplay
- Berlinale award, won · Jury Grand Prix
- Berlinale award, nominated · Best Film
- Sundance award, won · Neorealism
- Sundance award, nominated · Dramatic
- Sundance award, won · Dramatic
- Sundance award, nominated · Dramatic
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated
- Sundance award, nominated · Best of Next!
- Sundance award, nominated · US Fiction
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Eliza Hittman's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 67th percentile, the median of all 8; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 46th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 11 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser7
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the atmosphere 69/100 and the pacing 40/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
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 Eliza Hittman'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 Eliza Hittman work with?
People who share at least 2 of Eliza Hittman's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Scott Cummings shares the most, 4.
Cinematographers and editors
- Scott CummingsShared titles: Realm of Satan (2024), Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), Beach Rats (2017), It Felt Like Love (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Scott Cummings
- Hélène LouvartShared titles: Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), Beach Rats (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Hélène Louvart
Producers
- Molly GandourShared titles: Realm of Satan (2024), It Felt Like Love (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Molly Gandour
- Brad Becker-PartonShared titles: Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), Beach Rats (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Brad Becker-Parton
- Shrihari SatheShared titles: Beach Rats (2017), It Felt Like Love (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Shrihari Sathe
