Vanessa Taylor
Writer · Born September 24, 1970 (56)
Oscar nominee · Primetime Emmy nominee · Golden Globe nominee · 3 other major award bodies
Vanessa Taylor (born September 24, 1970) is an American screenwriter and television producer. She is best known for writing the screenplay for the films Hope Springs, Divergent, and The Shape of Water. For her work on The Shape of Water, Taylor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Description above from the Wikipedia article Vanessa Taylor, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 24, 1970 (56)
- Writer
- 11 on MovieCove · 13 credits in all
What are Vanessa Taylor's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 2
Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 1
A split, not a type: Gentle 1 · Charged 1 · Intense 3
Steady 1 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
A split, not a type: Casual 2 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 2
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet4
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 Vanessa Taylor's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 9 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on HBO Max (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Vanessa Taylor'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, 11 with a MovieCove page.
Uglies(2024)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films
Hillbilly Elegy(2020)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
The Shape of Water(2017)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Divergent(2014)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Hope Springs(2012)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Game of Thrones(2011)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
Washingtonienne (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Tell Me You Love Me(2007)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all shows
Jack & Bobby(2004)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all shows
Everwood(2002)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
Alias(2001)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all shows
Untitled Animated John Wick Prequel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 12 titles, 11 of them dated from 2001 to 2024.
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
8 major nominations and no wins, 2012–2018.
- Oscar, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- Golden Globe, nominated · Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Screenplay (Original)
+2 other major bodies · 2 nominations
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Original Screenplay
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Drama Series
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Dramatic Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Drama Series
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 Vanessa Taylor's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 66th percentile, the median of all 6; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 56th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th5
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 11 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser7
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the dialogue 43/100 and the plot and story 37/100 in their films, across 5 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 Vanessa Taylor's work okay for kids?
Across up to 6 MovieCove titles with content scores, 4 of the 5 categories sit near the median of all 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.