Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, In the Company of Men (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, and the New York Film Critics Circle. LaBute created the TV series Billy & Billie, writing and directing all of the episodes. He is also the creator of the TV series Van Helsing. Critics have responded to his plays as having a misanthropic tone. Rob Weinert-Kendt in The Village Voice referred to LaBute as "American theater's reigning misanthrope". The New York Times said that critics labeled him a misanthrope on the release of his film Your Friends & Neighbors because of the film's strong misanthropic plot and characters. Britain's Independent newspaper in May 2008 dubbed him "America's misanthrope par excellence". Citing the misanthropic tone of the plot in the films In the Company of Men, Your Friends & Neighbors and The Shape of Things, film critic Daniel Kimmel identified a pattern running through LaBute's work of being that the unlikeable, main antagonists of those three films end up getting away with their lying, scheming and mis-deeds, coming out on top of all the other characters as the real winners of those stories by quoting: "Neil LaBute is a misanthrope who assumes that only callous and evil people, who use and abuse others, can survive in this world."
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 19, 1963 (63)
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Writer, director and producer, also actor
- 21 on MovieCove · 47 credits in all
What are Neil LaBute's films like?
Across their 19 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality 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 3 · Wry 1 · Earnest 13
A split, not a type: Light 5 · Serious 6 · Dark 7
Grounded 11 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 2
Gentle 3 · Charged 8 · Intense 7
Steady 4 · Shifting 8 · Whiplash 6
Straight-faced 7 · Some laughs 10 · Funny 1
Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 11 · Relentless 1
Casual 4 · Engaged 11 · Full focus 3
A split, not a type: Easy watch 4 · Affecting 6 · Heavy 8
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 10 · Ambiguous 3
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet8
- Tragic6
- Ambiguous5
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 Neil LaBute's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 13 of their 21 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (8).
- Some Freaks (2016) · producer · free
- Some Velvet Morning (2013) · director, writer · free
- Van Helsing (2016) · writer, producer · free
- Dirty Weekend (2015) · director, writer · free
- Fear the Night (2023) · director, writer, producer · free
- House of Darkness (2022) · director, writer, producer · free
- Berlin, I Love You (2019) · writer · free
- Out of the Blue (2022) · director, writer, producer · free
Subscription and free streaming for Neil LaBute'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
47 credits, 21 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Murderous (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Fear the Night(2023)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
The Shape of Things (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
House of Darkness(2022)
Midcredits score: 10th percentile of all films
Out of the Blue(2022)
Midcredits score: 5th percentile of all films
Sparring Partner (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Berlin, I Love You(2019)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
The I-Land(2019)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all shows
Black Chicks (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
10 K (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Good Luck: In Farsi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Van Helsing(2016)
Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all shows
The Mulberry Bush (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Billions(2016)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
Some Freaks(2016)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
Middle of the Night (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Dirty Weekend(2015)
Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films
Billy & Billie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
It's Okay (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Some Velvet Morning(2013)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Full Circle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Some Girl(s) (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Current Events (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Double or Nothing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Stars in Shorts (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Denise (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
BFF (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
I Melt with You(2011)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Hell on Wheels(2011)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
Sweet Nothings (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
After-School Special (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Sexting (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Death at a Funeral(2010)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Heavy Rain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
The Vicious Kind(2009)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Lakeview Terrace(2008)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
Tumble (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
The Wicker Man(2006)
Midcredits score: 2nd percentile of all films
The Shape of Things(2003)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Possession(2002)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
Bash: Latter-Day Plays (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Nurse Betty(2000)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
In the Company of Men(1997)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
High School Spirits (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
This Is How It Goes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Tour de France (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 46 titles, 44 of them dated from 1986 to 2026.
Biggest box office
Death at a Funeral (2010)
Highest rated
In the Company of Men (1997)
Most popular right now
Out of the Blue (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.
How do Neil LaBute's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 39th percentile, the median of all 17; across their 18 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 42nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th5
- 25th to 49th6
- Below 25th7
Shape of the crowd
11 of their 21 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved2
- Universally Panned2
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed11
Reviewers score the dialogue 51/100 and the plot and story 41/100 in their films, across 18 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
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 Neil LaBute's work okay for kids?
Across up to 14 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, profanity and frightening / intense run 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 Neil LaBute work with?
People who share at least 2 of Neil LaBute's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Joel Plotch shares the most, 10.
Actors
- Gia CrovatinShared titles: Fear the Night (2023), House of Darkness (2022), Out of the Blue (2022), Dirty Weekend (2015)See all 4 shared titles with Gia Crovatin
- Aaron EckhartShared titles: Possession (2002), Nurse Betty (2000), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998), In the Company of Men (1997)See all 4 shared titles with Aaron Eckhart
- KeiLyn Durrel JonesShared titles: Fear the Night (2023), Out of the Blue (2022), The I-Land (2019)See all 3 shared titles with KeiLyn Durrel Jones
- Frederick WellerShared titles: Out of the Blue (2022), The Shape of Things (2003)See all 2 shared titles with Frederick Weller
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Joel PlotchShared titles: The I-Land (2019), Some Freaks (2016), Dirty Weekend (2015), Some Velvet Morning (2013), Lakeview Terrace (2008), The Wicker Man (2006), The Shape of Things (2003), Nurse Betty (2000), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998), In the Company of Men (1997)See all 10 shared titles with Joel Plotch
- Rogier StoffersShared titles: Fear the Night (2023), Dirty Weekend (2015), Some Velvet Morning (2013), Death at a Funeral (2010), Lakeview Terrace (2008)See all 5 shared titles with Rogier Stoffers
- Adam BosargeShared titles: Fear the Night (2023), House of Darkness (2022), Out of the Blue (2022)See all 3 shared titles with Adam Bosarge
- Bridget DurnfordShared titles: House of Darkness (2022), The I-Land (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Bridget Durnford
Producers
- Tim HarmsShared titles: House of Darkness (2022), Some Freaks (2016), Dirty Weekend (2015), Some Velvet Morning (2013), The Vicious Kind (2009)See all 5 shared titles with Tim Harms
- Stephen PevnerShared titles: Possession (2002), Nurse Betty (2000), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998), In the Company of Men (1997)See all 4 shared titles with Stephen Pevner
- Philip SteuerShared titles: The Shape of Things (2003), Nurse Betty (2000), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998)See all 3 shared titles with Philip Steuer
- Arianne FraserShared titles: Fear the Night (2023), Berlin, I Love You (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Arianne Fraser
