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Bryce Dessner

Bryce Dessner

Composer and actor, also producer · Born April 23, 1976 (50) · Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Oscar nominee · Golden Globe nominee · 2 other major award bodies

Bryce David Dessner is an American composer and guitarist best known for The Revenant (2015), The Two Popes (2019), Cyrano (2021) and C’mon C’mon (2021). He’s also a member of the indie rock band The National with his twin brother Aaron Dessner.

Biography from TMDB.

Born
April 23, 1976 (50)
From
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Works as
Composer and actor, also producer
Titles
31 on MovieCove · 43 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Down 46% in 30 days

What are Bryce Dessner's films like?

Across their 25 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.

Genres

Drama9 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 83rd percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Drama movies
Comedy5 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 70th percentile
: browse their Comedy movies
Documentary5 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 89th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Documentary movies
Biography2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 61st percentile
: browse their Biography movies

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

share of theme weight
Self
28%
Bonds
19%
Society
16%
Survival
12%
Morality
12%
Power
7%
Ideas
7%
Purpose8 titles, browse their movies with this themeFamily bonds6 titles, browse their movies with this themeCommunity4 titles, browse their movies with this themeArt4 titles, browse their movies with this themeJustice3 titles, browse their movies with this themeRomantic love3 titles, browse their movies with this themeMortality3 titles, browse their movies with this themeSelf-worth2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 23 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Serious: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their serious movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

A split, not a type: Light 5 · Serious 8 · Dark 10

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 18 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 1

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 6 · Charged 15 · Intense 2

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 14 · Shifting 8 · Whiplash 1

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 19 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 1

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 16 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 7 · Engaged 14 · Full focus 2

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

A split, not a type: Resolved 13 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 7

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative
17
Melancholic
14
Warm
7
Tense
6
Bittersweet
8
Other
21

How their films linger

Bittersweet15 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful14 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking9 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFeel-good3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteRousing2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteUnsettling2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 3 with a twist

  • Happy4
  • Bittersweet15
  • Ambiguous6

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 Bryce Dessner's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 22 of their 31 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (7).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Bryce Dessner'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

43 credits, 31 with a MovieCove page; 14 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Man's Skin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2027)

    Composer

  • Flamingos: Life After the Meteorite(2025)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films

  • Love Story(2026)

    Show 9 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all shows

  • A Statement(2026)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films

  • Amadeus(2025)

    Show 5 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all shows

  • Train Dreams(2025)

    Composer · Musician · Orchestrator · Songs

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • The Accountant 2(2025)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films

  • Joana Mallwitz @ Konzerthaus Berlin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Composer

  • The Untranslatable Forest (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)

    Composer

  • We Live in Time(2024)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films

  • In Waves and War(2024)

    Music Producer

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • Widow Clicquot(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films

  • Dandelion(2024)

    Composer · Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films

  • Sing Sing(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • The National - Live At Montreux Jazz Festival (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)

    Actor

  • The National - Live at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2024 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)

    Actor

  • Manhunt(2024)

    Show 7 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all shows

  • Photographer(2024)

    Show Composer

    Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all shows

  • She Came to Me(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films

  • The National - Live at Bearsville Theater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Actor

  • A Good Person(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films

  • Abbé Pierre: A Century of Devotion(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films

  • Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths(2022)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • Jockey(2021)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films

  • Cyrano(2021)

    Composer · Executive Producer · Songs

    Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films

  • C'mon C'mon(2021)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films

  • All of This Unreal Time (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Composer

  • Irresistible(2020)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films

  • The Two Popes(2019)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • The Kitchen(2019)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films

  • Death is Elsewhere (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Actor

  • The Professor(2018)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films

  • I Am Easy to Find (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Composer

  • What Will Become of Us(2019)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson(2017)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films

  • The National - Guilty Party: Basilica Hudson (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Actor

  • Transpecos(2016)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • The Revenant(2015)

    Additional Music

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire(2013)

    Songs

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • Mistaken for Strangers(2013)

    Composer · Producer · as Self

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films

  • Big Sur(2013)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films

  • Out of a Forest (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Composer

  • The National - Live at El Castell Embruixat (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)

    Actor

Career shape

A full career of 38 titles, 37 of them dated from 2005 to 2026.

Biggest box office

We Live in Time (2024)

$59M worldwide

Highest rated

Sing Sing (2023)

Midcredits 97th

Most popular right now

We Live in Time (2024)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting6 of 38: 6 only acting, 0 with another roleProducing2 of 38: 0 only producing, 2 with another roleMusic31 of 38: 28 only music, 3 with another role · typical Midcredits score70thOther crew3 of 38: 1 only other crew, 2 with another role

38 titles, 3 with more than one role.

By decade

2000s1 · acting2010s12 · 2 acting · 10 crew2020s24 · 3 acting · 21 crew

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

2 major awards from 7 major nominations, 2014–2026.

WinNomination
  1. 2026
    • Oscar, nominated · Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
    • Golden Globe, nominated · Best Original Song - Motion Picture
    • +1 other major body · 1 nomination
      • Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Song
  2. 2022
    • Grammy Award, nominated · Album of the Year
  3. 2018
    • Grammy Award, won · Best Alternative Music Album
  4. 2016
    • Grammy Award, won · Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
  5. 2014
    • Grammy Award, nominated · Best Alternative Music Album

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 Bryce Dessner's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 71st percentile, the median of all 27; across their 23 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 68th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

68thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 23

Approval · how many liked their films

63rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 23

Reach · how many have seen their films

85thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 23

Midcredits score across 31 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up14
  • 50th to 74th11
  • 25th to 49th5
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

14 of their 31 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved6
  • Divisive1
  • Cult Classic2
  • Crowd Pleaser14
  • Broadly Agreed3
  • Mixed5

Most divisive · composer

A Statement (2026)

91st percentile spread · 22% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · composer

The Revenant (2015)

Midcredits 97th · 88% liked

Reviewers score the sound and music 63/100 in their films, across 19 reviewed titles; fans 69, detractors 46. 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 Bryce Dessner's work okay for kids?

Across up to 13 MovieCove titles with content scores, profanity runs heavier than most films and violence & gore lighter.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore10 titles4–47 · median 25 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity13 titles15–66 · median 37 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity11 titles30–83 · median 69 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs12 titles12–81 · median 31 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense11 titles14–52 · median 37 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 39

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 Bryce Dessner work with?

People who share at least 2 of Bryce Dessner's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Aaron Dessner shares the most, 9.

Directors

Actors

Composers, cinematographers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles