Known for Sound
Michael Abels (born October 8, 1962) is an American composer best known for the opera Omar, co-written with Rhiannon Giddens, and his scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us and Nope. The hip-hop-influenced score for Us was short-listed for the Oscars and was even named "Score of the Decade" by TheWrap. Other recent media projects include the films Bad Education, Nightbooks, and Fake Famous, and the docuseries Allen v. Farrow. His most recent releases include Beauty, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is now streaming on Netflix; Breaking (formerly 892), which premiered at Sundance; and his third collaboration with Jordan Peele, Nope. Abels' works also include many concert works, such as At War With Ourselves for the Kronos Quartet, Isolation Variation for Hilary Hahn, and the opera Omar, co-composed with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Rhiannon Giddens. Some of these pieces are available on Cedille Records, including Delights & Dances and Winged Creatures. Recent commissions include a work for the National Symphony Orchestraand a guitar concerto for Mak Grgić. Abels is a co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective. This advocacy group increases the visibility of composers of colour in film, gaming, and streaming media. In 2023, the opera Omar, co-written by Abels and Rhiannon Giddens, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Abels, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
October 8, 1962 (age 63)
Birthplace
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Filmography
18 films, 4 shows


Behemoth!
2026 · 2h 4m
country: United States
Gifted cellist Alex Serian returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Music, which has been the constant, all-consuming river of his life, begins to carry Alex on an adventure that will change him forever.


Hope
2026 · 2h 37m
country: South Korea
In the remote South Korean village of Hope Harbor, police chief Bum-seok and officer Sung-ae are called to investigate a mysterious creature wreaking havoc on the community. But all is not as it seems, and perceptions can be misleading. What begins as ignorance plants the seed of disaster, escalating through human conflict into a tragedy of cosmic proportions.


The American Society of Magical Negroes
2024 · 1h 45m
country: United States
A young man, Aren, is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier.


Landscape with Invisible Hand
2023 · 1h 45m
country: United States
Years into a benevolent alien occupation, mankind is still adjusting to its new overlords. Their technology initially held promise for global prosperity, but rendered most human jobs – and steady income – obsolete. When two teenagers discover the aliens are fascinated with human love and will pay for access to it, they decide to livestream their romance to make extra cash for their families.


Breaking
2022 · 1h 43m
country: United Kingdom
Desperate for money and running out of options, Marine veteran Brian Brown-Easley holds several people hostage inside a bank, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with police.


Nope
2022 · 2h 10m
country: United States
Residents in a lonely gulch of inland California bear witness to an uncanny, chilling discovery.


Nightbooks
2021 · 1h 41m
country: Canada
Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.


Fake Famous
2021 · 1h 26m
country: United States
Explores the meaning of fame and influence in the digital age through an innovative social experiment. Following three Los Angeles-based people with relatively small followings, the film explores the attempts made to turn them into famous influencers by purchasing fake followers and bots to “engage” with their social media accounts.


All Day and a Night
2020 · 2h 1m
country: United States
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.


Bad Education
2019 · 1h 49m
country: United States
A superintendent of a school district works for the betterment of the student’s education when an embezzlement scheme is discovered, threatening to destroy everything.


See You Yesterday
2019 · 1h 26m
country: United States
As two teen prodigies try to master the art of time travel, a tragic police shooting sends them on a series of dangerous trips to the past.


Us
2019 · 1h 56m
country: United States
Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends. But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.


Get Out
2017 · 1h 44m
country: United States
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.