Sebastián Silva Irarrázabal (born 9 April 1979; Santiago) is a Chilean director, actor, screenwriter, painter and musician. The second of seven brothers, Sebastián Silva was born in Santiago, Chile on 9 April 1979. After graduating from the Catholic Colegio del Verbo Divino school in Santiago, he spent a year studying filmmaking at the Escuela de Cine de Chile (“Film School of Chile” in Spanish) before leaving to study animation in Montreal, Canada. Here, he mounted the first gallery exhibition of his illustrations and started the band CHC, which went on to record three albums. Silva's second illustration show brought him in contact with Hollywood but a “frustrating period” in Los Angeles, spent pitching to Steven Spielberg and others, brought no tangible results. Leaving Hollywood, Silva started two more bands, Yaia and Los Mono, the latter of which was signed by British record label Sonic360. He exhibited his art in New York City while writing the script for what would become his first feature, La Vida Me Mata (“Life Kills Me” in Spanish; written with Pedro Peirano). Back in Chile, Silva recorded a solo album, Iwannawin & Friends and directed his debut feature, Life Kills Me. Released in 2007 by Chilean production company Fabula, Life Kills Me went on to win Best Film at the Chilean Pedro Sienna Awards in 2008. In February 2008, setting aside a script based on his trip to Hollywood, Silva wrote (with Pedro Peirano) and directed his next film: The Maid. The film, released in 2009, told the story of a maid trying to keep her job after having served a family for 23 years. It has won multiple awards, including the Grand Jury Prize - World Cinema Dramatic at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2010 Golden Globes Awards and the 2010 NAACP Image Awards. Film critic David Parkinson called the film "an exceptional study of the emotional investment that domestics make in the families they serve." Silva partnered with Pedro Peirano again to write his next film, Old Cats, which premiered in 2010 at the Valdivia International Film Festival in Chile and at the New York Film Festival in the United States. He then made his TV debut in 2012 when he wrote, directed and produced the HBO short-form TV comedy show The Boring Life of Jacqueline. The success of The Maid took Silva to Sundance again in 2013 to premiere two new films, Magic Magic and Crystal Fairy, both starring indie actor Michael Cera. Silva won the Sundance Directing Award: World Cinema - Dramatic for Crystal Fairy and the LA Times described Magic Magic as “an exploration of insanity, selfishness and emotional brutality.” Silva told the LA Times that Cera's character in Magic Magic is "one of my favorite characters I've created in a movie." His latest film Rotting in the Sun premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and screened at Outfest.
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Biography from TMDB.
- April 9, 1979 (47)
- Santiago, Chile
- Director, writer, actor and producer, also editor
- 15 on MovieCove · 26 credits in all
What are Sebastián Silva's films like?
Across their 7 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 1 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
Light 2 · Serious 3 · Dark 2
Grounded 5 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 3 · Charged 2 · Intense 2
Steady 3 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 1
Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 2
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 3
Roles they play
- Heroas Freddy in Nasty Baby (2015)
- Heroas Sebastián Silva in Rotting in the Sun (2023)
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet2
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous4
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 Sebastián Silva's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 13 of their 15 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Sebastián Silva'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
26 credits, 15 with a MovieCove page.
Atropia(2025)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Rotting in the Sun(2023)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
The Staircase(2022)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all showsIndomable (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Los Espookys(2018)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all shows
Tyrel(2018)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all filmsFistful of Dirt (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Song to Song(2017)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
Neruda(2016)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Madly(2016)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Dolfun (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Nasty Baby(2015)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
The Butler(2013)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Magic Magic(2013)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
The Boring Life of Jacqueline (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Old Cats (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Lorimer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
The Maid(2009)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
31 Minutes: The Movie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Life Kills Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Common Ground: Under Construction Notes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
The Air I Breathe(2007)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Pulentos (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Sal Disfruta: Año Nuevo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)
Born in East L.A.(1987)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 26 titles from 1987 to 2025.
Biggest box office
The Maid (2009)
Highest rated
The Maid (2009)
Most popular right now
Rotting in the Sun (2023)
Film career
Top draw in 1 MovieCove title.
- 2008Screen debut· 31 Minutes: The Movie
- 2015First top-billed film· Nasty Baby
By role
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 Sebastián Silva's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 46th percentile, the median of all 13; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 49th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up4
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th7
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 15 titles are Mixed.
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser6
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed7
Reviewers score the atmosphere 65/100 and the pacing 33/100 in their films, across 6 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 Sebastián Silva's work okay for kids?
Across up to 5 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity runs 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 Sebastián Silva work with?
People who share at least 2 of Sebastián Silva's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Sofía Subercaseaux shares the most, 5.
Writers
- Pedro PeiranoShared titles: Rotting in the Sun (2023), The Maid (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Pedro Peirano
Actors
- Agustín SilvaShared titles: Nasty Baby (2015), Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013), Magic Magic (2013), The Maid (2009)See all 4 shared titles with Agustín Silva
- Michael CeraShared titles: Tyrel (2018), Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013), Magic Magic (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Michael Cera
- Catalina SaavedraShared titles: Rotting in the Sun (2023), The Maid (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Catalina Saavedra
- Juan Andrés SilvaShared titles: Rotting in the Sun (2023), Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Juan Andrés Silva
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Sofía SubercaseauxShared titles: Rotting in the Sun (2023), Tyrel (2018), Madly (2016), Nasty Baby (2015), Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013)See all 5 shared titles with Sofía Subercaseaux
- Danny BensiShared titles: Madly (2016), Nasty Baby (2015), Magic Magic (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Danny Bensi
- Saunder JurriaansShared titles: Madly (2016), Nasty Baby (2015), Magic Magic (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Saunder Jurriaans
- Sergio ArmstrongShared titles: Nasty Baby (2015), The Maid (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Sergio Armstrong
Producers
- Jacob WassermanShared titles: Rotting in the Sun (2023), Tyrel (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Jacob Wasserman
- Christine VachonShared titles: Nasty Baby (2015), Magic Magic (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Christine Vachon
- Juan de Dios LarraínShared titles: Nasty Baby (2015), Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Juan de Dios Larraín
- Mariane HartardShared titles: Nasty Baby (2015), Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Mariane Hartard