James Richard Kelly (born 1975) is an American writer-director, best known for his debut feature, the science-fiction cult classic "Donnie Darko"(2001). Kelly was born in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Lane and Ennis Kelly. He won a scholarship to the University of Southern California to study at the USC School of Cinema-Television. He made two short films at USC, "The Goodbye Place" and "Visceral Matter", before graduating in 1997. "Donnie Darko" was his first feature and was nominated for 21 awards, winning 11 of them, including a nomination for a Saturn Award. The film later ended up #2 on Empire magazine's list of 50 greatest independent films of all time, behind Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs". Kelly wrote the screenplay for Tony Scott's biographical crime thriller "Domino" (2005), and went on to write and direct the postmodern L.A. satire "Southland Tales" (2006) and the science-fiction mystery "The Box" (2009), inspired by "The Twilight Zone" episode "Button, Button". Although his three films differ considerably in setting and characters, they share similar themes of time travel, existentialism, and spirituality. Kelly's particular filmmaking sensibilities can be traced back to his viewing of Terry Giliam's "Brazil" (1985), as told to author Robert K. Elder in an interview for his book "The Film That Changed My Life" (2011). The commercial underperformance of Kelly's films has made it difficult for him to secure financing for other projects, and as such he has not directed a film since 2009. In 2016, filmmaker Kevin Smith said of Kelly: "He is insanely creative and is not unlike Christopher Nolan. But Nolan wound up in the Warner Bros. system where he got special handling, and he got a lot of money to make huge art films like "Inception". Richard can be one of our greatest filmmakers. He is right now, but just a lot of people don't realize it. He's still a kid, and someone needs to Nolan that kid."
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 28, 1975 (51)
- Newport News, Virginia, USA
- Writer, director and producer
- 8 on MovieCove · 13 credits in all
What are Richard Kelly's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Morality.
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
A split, not a type: Ironic 4 · Wry 1 · Earnest 3
A split, not a type: Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 5
A split, not a type: Grounded 0 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 3
Gentle 0 · Charged 4 · Intense 4
A split, not a type: Steady 0 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 3
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 2
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 2
A split, not a type: Casual 2 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 4
A split, not a type: Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 4
A split, not a type: Resolved 2 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 4
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet2
- Tragic3
- Ambiguous2
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 Richard Kelly's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Richard Kelly'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
13 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page; 6 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Operation: Endgame(2010)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
The Box(2009)
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
World's Greatest Dad(2009)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
S. Darko(2009)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
Southland Tales(2006)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Domino(2005)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Donnie Darko(2001)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Visceral Matter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
The Goodbye Place (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Corpus Christi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled Richard Kelly Film (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled Rod Serling Biopic (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 13 titles, 10 of them dated from 1996 to 2010.
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 Richard Kelly's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 30th percentile, the median of all 8; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 30th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 8 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Universally Panned1
- Cult Classic2
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the dialogue 39/100 and the plot and story 35/100 in their films, across 8 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 Richard Kelly's work okay for kids?
Across up to 8 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, profanity, alcohol & drugs 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 Richard Kelly work with?
People who share at least 2 of Richard Kelly's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Edward H. Hamm Jr. shares the most, 5.
Actors
- Holmes OsborneShared titles: The Box (2009), Donnie Darko (2001)See all 2 shared titles with Holmes Osborne
Cinematographers and editors
- Sam BauerShared titles: Southland Tales (2006), Donnie Darko (2001)See all 2 shared titles with Sam Bauer
- Steven PosterShared titles: Southland Tales (2006), Donnie Darko (2001)See all 2 shared titles with Steven Poster
Producers
- Edward H. Hamm Jr.Shared titles: Operation: Endgame (2010), I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009), The Box (2009), World's Greatest Dad (2009), Southland Tales (2006)See all 5 shared titles with Edward H. Hamm Jr.
- Sean McKittrickShared titles: Operation: Endgame (2010), I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009), World's Greatest Dad (2009), Southland Tales (2006), Donnie Darko (2001)See all 5 shared titles with Sean McKittrick
- Bill JohnsonShared titles: Operation: Endgame (2010), Southland Tales (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Bill Johnson
- Jim SeibelShared titles: Operation: Endgame (2010), Southland Tales (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Jim Seibel