Justin Hurwitz (born January 22nd, 1985) is an American film composer and television writer. He is best known for his longtime collaboration with director Damien Chazelle, scoring each of his films: Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009), Whiplash (2014), La La Land (2016), First Man (2018), and Babylon (2022). For La La Land, Hurwitz won two Academy Awards, Best Original Score and Best Original Song (for "City of Stars"), as well as Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. He has won two Grammy Awards for La La Land, one for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media and another for Best Score Soundtrack For Original Media. He won two additional Golden Globes for Original Score for First Man and Babylon. Description above from the Wikipedia article Justin Hurwitz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 22, 1985 (41)
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Composer, also actor
- 8 on MovieCove · 10 credits in all
Known for
What are Justin Hurwitz's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self 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 1 · Earnest 5
Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 3
Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 2
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 1 · Intense 3
A split, not a type: Steady 3 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 3
A split, not a type: Casual 3 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 2
A split, not a type: Easy watch 1 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 3
Resolved 2 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet6
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 Justin Hurwitz's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Hulu (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Justin Hurwitz'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
10 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page; 5 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Babylon(2022)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Piano Cinéma (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
First Man(2018)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
La La Land(2016)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Whiplash(2014)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
The League(2009)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all shows
Curb Your Enthusiasm(2000)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
The Simpsons(1989)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all showsSacrifice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 10 titles, 9 of them dated from 1989 to 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
2 Oscars, 4 Golden Globes, a BAFTA Award and 4 other major awards from 23 major nominations, 2016–2025.
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Comedy Series
- Oscar, nominated · Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
- Golden Globe, won · Best Original Score - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Original Score
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Score
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Comedy Series
- Golden Globe, won · Best Original Score - Motion Picture
+1 other major body · 1 win
- Critics Choice Award, won · Best Score
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Comedy Series
+3 other major bodies · 2 wins and 4 nominations
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Comedy Series
- Producers Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy
- Grammy Award, won · Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
- Grammy Award, won · Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Song Written for Visual Media
- Oscar, won · Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
- Oscar, won · Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
- Oscar, nominated · Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
- Golden Globe, won · Best Original Score - Motion Picture
- Golden Globe, won · Best Original Song - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, won · Original Music
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
- Critics Choice Award, won · Best Score
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 Justin Hurwitz's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 89th percentile, the median of all 5; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 93rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 25th to 49th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 8 titles divides audiences: 5 are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved5
- Crowd Pleaser2
- Broadly Agreed1
Reviewers score the sound and music 80/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles; fans 86, detractors 55. 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 Justin Hurwitz'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 Justin Hurwitz work with?
People who share at least 2 of Justin Hurwitz's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Damien Chazelle shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Damien ChazelleShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018), La La Land (2016), Whiplash (2014), Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009)See all 5 shared titles with Damien Chazelle
Actors
- Ryan GoslingShared titles: First Man (2018), La La Land (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Ryan Gosling
Cinematographers and editors
- Tom CrossShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018), La La Land (2016), Whiplash (2014)See all 4 shared titles with Tom Cross
- Linus SandgrenShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018), La La Land (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Linus Sandgren
Producers
- Helen EstabrookShared titles: Babylon (2022), Whiplash (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Helen Estabrook
- Marc PlattShared titles: Babylon (2022), La La Land (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Marc Platt
- Wyck GodfreyShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Wyck Godfrey
Mixed roles
- Olivia HamiltonShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Olivia Hamilton
