Known for Acting
Melanie Jayne Lynskey (born May 16, 1977) is a New Zealand actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women and her command of American dialects, she works predominantly in independent films. Lynskey is the recipient of two Critics' Choice Awards, a HCA Award, a Gracie, a New Zealand Film Award, a Hollywood Film Award, and a Sundance Special Jury Award, as well as Gotham, Satellite, Saturn, Golden Nymph, Independent Spirit, Screen Actors Guild, and Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Born
May 16, 1977 (age 49)
Birthplace
New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand
Filmography
60 films, 46 shows


Don't Say Good Luck
2026 · 1h 36m
country: United States
Sophie Birenbaum is ready for the spotlight as the lead in her high school musical — until she's suddenly facing more drama at home than on the stage.


Pike River
2025 · 2h 11m
country: New Zealand
In the aftermath of an explosion that rocked the Pike River Mine and took the lives of 29 West Coasters, two women step up to fight for accountability.


Griffin in Summer
2025 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Griffin is the most ambitious playwright of his generation. He's also fourteen years old. When his mom hires a handsome 25-year-old handyman, Griffin's life and his new play take an inspired turn.
The Making of The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The Making of The Tattooist of Auschwitz
2024 · 28m
country: Unknown
Cast and crew discuss the making of Sky Studios' The Tattooist of Auschwitz


Don't Look Up
2021 · 2h 18m
country: United States
Two astronomers go on a media tour to warn humankind of a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth. The response from a distracted world: Meh.


Lady of the Manor
2021 · 1h 36m
country: United States
Past and present collide when aimless slacker Hannah gets hired to portray Lady Wadsworth -- a Southern belle from the 1800s -- for tours at Wadsworth Manor. Hannah figures she can fake it well enough, until the ghost of Lady Wadsworth appears and tells her it's time to change her wild ways -- or she'll haunt her forever.


Sadie
2018 · 1h 37m
country: United States
While her father is away serving in the military, Sadie battles to preserve his place on the home front when her mother takes an interest in the newest resident at the Shady Plains Trailer Park.


The Changeover
2017 · 1h 35m
country: United Kingdom
Laura Chant, 16, lives with her mother and four-year-old brother Jacko in a poor new suburb on the edge of a partially demolished Christchurch, New Zealand. Laura is drawn into a supernatural battle with an ancient spirit who attacks Jacko and slowly drains the life out of him as the spirit becomes ever younger. Laura discovers her true identity and the supernatural ability within her, and must harness it to save her brother's life.


And Then I Go
2017 · 1h 32m
country: United States
In the cruel world of junior high, Edwin suffers in a state of anxiety and alienation alongside his only friend, Flake. Misunderstood by their families and demoralized at school daily, their fury simmers quietly until an idea for vengeance offers them a terrifying release.


Little Boxes
2017 · 1h 24m
country: United States
It's the summer before 6th grade, and Clark is the new-in-town biracial kid in a sea of white. Discovering that to be cool he needs to act 'more black,' he fumbles to meet expectations, while his urban intellectual parents Mack and Gina also strive to adjust to small-town living. Equipped for the many inherent challenges of New York, the tight-knit family are ill prepared for the drastically different set of obstacles that their new community presents, and soon find themselves struggling to understand themselves and each other in this new suburban context.


1 Mile To You
2017 · 1h 44m
country: United States
After a teenager's friends die in an accident, he finds running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him notoriety. He is caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in the present.


XX
2017 · 1h 21m
country: United States
This all-female horror anthology features four dark tales from four fiercely talented women.


I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
2017 · 1h 36m
country: United States
When a depressed woman is burglarized, she finds a new sense of purpose by tracking down the thieves alongside her obnoxious neighbor. But they soon find themselves dangerously out of their depth against a pack of degenerate criminals.


The Intervention
2016 · 1h 30m
country: United States
A weekend getaway for four couples takes a sharp turn when one of the couples discovers the entire trip was orchestrated to host an intervention on their marriage.


Folk Hero & Funny Guy
2016 · 1h 31m
country: United States
Two artistically inclined childhood friends, a comedian and a folk-rocker respectively, set out on a tour together in hopes of regaining their "mojo" and finding love in the process.


The Great & The Small
2016 · 1h 44m
country: United States
Twenty-six year old Scott is living on the streets and trying to find his way back into society while on probation for petty crimes. He attempts to navigate his relationship with his two bit criminal of a boss and an enigmatic detective, while at the same time winning back the heart of his ex-girlfriend, a working single mom. Never having a mother or father himself, Scott discovers the true meaning of fatherhood.


Rainbow Time
2016 · 1h 31m
country: United States
Todd grew up under the strange shadow of his older mentally challenged brother Shonzi. As kids, Shonzi forced Todd to make action movies. As adults he pressures him to share love life details, even showing Shonzi a sex tape he made with an old girlfriend to help him cope when family tragedy hits. When their dad suffers a heart attack, Shonzi (now 40, and still a virgin) moves in with Todd and his new girlfriend Lindsay. Shonzi wants desperately to be included in their relationship like old times. When Shonzi’s begging become threats to reveal secrets from their past, Todd must find the courage to be honest with Lindsay, even if it means the end of their relationship.


Digging for Fire
2015 · 1h 23m
country: United States
Tim and Lee are married with a young child. The chance to stay at a fancy home in the Hollywood Hills is complicated by Tim's discovery of a bone and a rusty old gun in the yard. Tim is excited by the idea of a mystery, but Lee doesn't want him to dig any further, preferring that he focus on the family taxes, which he promised to do weeks ago. This disagreement sends them on separate and unexpected adventures over the course of a weekend, as Tim and his friends seek clues to the mystery while Lee searches for answers to the bigger questions of marriage and parenthood.


Behind Over the Garden Wall
2015 · 8m
country: United States
A special look at the making of Patrick McHale's award winning miniseries Over the Garden Wall.


Goodbye to All That
2014 · 1h 27m
country: United States
Otto Wall is just a little unlucky in life, and unbeknownst to him, in love. When his wife suddenly asks for a divorce, he bounces between a search for answers, desperate attempts to stay connected to his daughter, and his fateful reentry into the dating pool.


We'll Never Have Paris
2014 · 1h 29m
country: France
Quinn, a neurotic man, is diagnosed with a harmless eye condition and soon after his life spirals out of control. He second-guesses his plans to propose to his longtime girlfriend, Devon, after his beautiful coworker, Kelsey, confesses that she has a crush on him. After a conversation with his best friend, Jameson, he clumsily tries to explain his doubts to Devon, but his possible proposal turns into a break-up. When Devon flees to Paris, he follows her in a last-ditch effort to win back "the one."


Happy Christmas
2014 · 1h 22m
country: United States
After a breakup with her boyfriend, a young woman moves in with her older brother, his wife, and their 2-year-old son.


They Came Together
2014 · 1h 23m
country: United States
A small business owner is about to lose her shop to a major corporate development.


The Big Ask
2014 · 1h 31m
country: United States
The Big Ask is a dark comedy about three couples who head to the desert to help their friend heal after the death of his mother. They would do anything for him - except for the one thing he wants.


Chu and Blossom
2014 · 1h 44m
country: United States
A militant performance-artist and a tall Korean foreign-exchange student become trapped in a small Southern town.


A Kiwi Legend
2013 · 7m
country: Unknown
Change is afoot in New Zealand as creative forces take on the ultimate Kiwi icon. But all is not well in paradise, and the nation is divided. Whilst supporters applaud the innovation others see it as a threat to their national identity.
Putzel
Putzel
2012 · 1h 28m
country: United States
For Walter, a young man endearingly known as "Putzel," life literally doesn't go beyond his neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Walter's dreams of taking over his family's smoked fish emporium are disrupted by the arrival of Sally, who starts a relationship with his about-to-retire and very-married uncle. In order to secure his future, Walter attempts to thwart the budding romance and falls for Sally too - throwing everyone's lives into hilarious chaos.


The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2012 · 1h 43m
country: United States
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, become his mentors, helping him discover the joys of friendship, music and love.


Hello I Must Be Going
2012 · 1h 35m
country: United States
An affair with a 19-year old actor helps reinvigorate life for thirty-something Amy after she moves home to her parents’ house following her divorce.


Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
2012 · 1h 41m
country: United States
As an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.


Eye of the Hurricane
2012 · 1h 44m
country: Unknown
An Everglades community struggles to put their lives back together in the wake of a hurricane.


Touchback
2011 · 1h 58m
country: United States
A former high-school football star loses his shot at a college scholarship due to a devastating gridiron injury, but gets a second chance at living his dream.


Win Win
2011 · 1h 46m
country: United States
When down-on-his-luck part-time high school wrestling coach Mike agrees to become legal guardian to an elderly man, his ward's troubled grandson turns out to be a star grappler, sparking dreams of a big win -- until the boy's mother retrieves him.


Helena from the Wedding: Cast Interviews
2011 · 32m
country: Unknown
On-set interviews with the cast of Helena from the Wedding (2010).


Helena from the Wedding
2010 · 1h 29m
country: United States
Newlyweds Alex and Alice host a New Year's Eve party for their closest friends at a remote cabin in the mountains. However, when an unexpected guest shows up, the group's facades begin to crumble.


Up in the Air
2009 · 1h 50m
country: United States
Corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham spends his life in planes, airports, and hotels, but just as he’s about to reach a milestone of ten million frequent flyer miles, he meets a woman who causes him to rethink his transient life.


The Informant!
2009 · 1h 48m
country: United States
A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Mark Whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion.


Leaves of Grass
2009 · 1h 44m
country: United States
An Ivy League professor returns home, where his pot-growing twin brother has concocted a plan to take down a local drug lord.


Away We Go
2009 · 1h 38m
country: United Kingdom
Verona and Burt have moved to Colorado to be close to Burt's parents but, with Verona expecting their first child, Burt's parents inexplicably decide to move to Belgium, now leaving them in a place they hate and without a support structure in place. They set off on a whirlwind tour of of disparate locations where they have friends or relatives, sampling not only different cities and climates but also different families. Along the way they realize that the journey is less about discovering where they want to live and more about figuring out what type of parents they want to be.


A Quiet Little Marriage
2008 · 1h 30m
country: United States
A Quiet Little Marriage is the love story of Dax and Olive, who manage to find harmony even as they juggle family, romance and intimacy, but that all changes the night she asks him for a baby. Writer/director Mo Perkins’ intense and profound, raw feature debut is laced with sly humor, exquisitely rendered characters, and a pitch-perfect emotional honesty.


Show of Hands
2008 · 1h 36m
country: New Zealand
Jess is a solo mother and reluctant parking warden. Tom is a self-obsessed greetings cards salesman with an addiction to competitions who will do anything to win. Together they are just two of the competitors in a gruelling endurance contest to win a car - whoever keeps their hand on it the longest wins. As the sleepless days wear by, what price will they pay for winning this competition?


Itty Bitty Titty Committee
2007 · 1h 27m
country: United States
High School grad and all American gal, Anna, finds her purpose and herself after she hooks up with the radical feminists in The Itty Bitty Titty Committee.


Flags of Our Fathers
2006 · 2h 15m
country: United States
There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen - John 'Doc' Bradley, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes - who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.


Say Uncle
2006 · 1h 31m
country: United States
A young gay artist, desperate to replace the relationship he had with his recently relocated godson, is targeted by a neighborhood mom as a potential threat to the community.


Park
2006 · 1h 26m
country: United States
Park takes place all in one day in a public park in Los Angeles, as 11 disaffected Angelenos find both love and loss in unexpected ways


The Nearly Unadventurous Life of Zoe Cadwaulder
2004 · 12m
country: United States
Romantic dark comedy sees phobia-riddled Zoe Cadwaulder overcoming her fears and discovering true love.


Shattered Glass
2003 · 1h 34m
country: Canada
Stephen Glass is a staff writer for the respected current events and policy magazine The New Republic and a freelance feature writer for publications such as Rolling Stone, Harper's and George. By the mid-90s, Glass' articles had turned him into one of the most sought-after young journalists in Washington, but a bizarre chain of events - chronicled in Buzz Bissinger's September 1998 Vanity Fair article - suddenly stopped his career in its tracks.


Claustrophobia
2003 · 1h 19m
country: United States
A serial killer armed with a crossbow pistol is murdering people from their own rooftops. When three young coworkers at a poorly-attended slumber party start hearing footsteps on the roof, they fear the worst.


Abandon
2002 · 1h 39m
country: United States
A psychological thriller about a senior at one of America's most prestigious universities. Under enormous pressure to complete her thesis and earn a top job at one of the world's most competitive consulting firms, Katie is still coping with the sudden unexplained disappearance of her first love two years prior. As the investigation continues, Katie is forced to choose between past passions and new possibilities, even as new facts are uncovered.


Sweet Home Alabama
2002 · 1h 48m
country: United States
New York fashion designer Melanie Carmichael suddenly finds herself engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor. But her past holds many secrets—including Jake, the redneck husband she married in high school, who refuses to divorce her. Bound and determined to end their contentious relationship once and for all, Melanie sneaks back home to Alabama to confront her past.


Shooters
2002 · 1h 31m
country: Netherlands
Gilly comes out of prison after serving a six year stretch and decides that he will now turn his life around and go straight. But when he returns to his South London home and visits his old colleague J, in hope of obtaining his share of the proceeds from the job that landed him inside, J soon talks him into getting involved in one last scam.


Snakeskin
2001 · 1h 34m
country: New Zealand
A hitchhiker takes two kids on the ride of their dreams, but they soon learn that their newfound hero is just as capable of delivering nightmares.


Foreign Correspondents
2001 · 1h 42m
country: United States
Equal parts romance, fable, ghost story, character study, and cinematic puzzle, Foreign Correspondents ties two seemingly unrelated stories together into one drama, revealing hidden parallels between these lost young people as they tell lies, pursue fantasies, step into dangerous emotional territory... and try to find love in a world that has all but forgotten them.


Coyote Ugly
2000 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Graced with a velvet voice, 21-year-old Violet Sanford heads to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a songwriter only to find her aspirations sidelined by the accolades and notoriety she receives at her "day" job as a barmaid at Coyote Ugly. The "Coyotes" as they are affectionately called tantalize customers and the media alike with their outrageous antics, making Coyote Ugly the watering hole for guys on the prowl.


But I'm a Cheerleader
2000 · 1h 25m
country: United States
Megan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn't like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she's pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to "sexual redirection" school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight.


Detroit Rock City
1999 · 1h 35m
country: United States
In 1978, a Kiss concert was an epoch-making event. For the four teen fans in Detroit Rock City getting tickets to the sold-out show becomes the focal point of their existence. They'll do anything for tickets -- compete in a strip club's amateur-night contest, take on religious protesters, even rob a convenience store!


The Cherry Orchard
1999 · 2h 21m
country: Cyprus
Madame Ranevskaya is a spoiled aging aristocratic lady, who returns from a trip to Paris to face the loss of her magnificent Cherry Orchard estate after a default on the mortgage. In denial, she continues living in the past, deluding herself and her family, while the beautiful cherry trees are being axed down by the re-possessor Lopakhin (Teale), her former serf, who has his own agenda.


EverAfter
1998 · 2h 1m
country: United States
Danielle, a vibrant young woman, was forced into servitude after the death of her father when she was a young girl. Danielle's stepmother, Rodmilla, is a heartless woman who forces Danielle to do the cooking and cleaning, while she tries to marry off the eldest of her two daughters to the prince. But Danielle's life takes a wonderful turn when, under the guise of a visiting royal, she meets the charming Prince Henry.


The Frighteners
1996 · 1h 50m
country: New Zealand
Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.


Heavenly Creatures
1994 · 1h 49m
country: New Zealand
Precocious teenager Juliet moves to New Zealand with her family and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. This friendship gradually develops into an intense and obsessive bond.