Darren is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning director and producer. His latest feature American Pain for CNN Films + HBO Max premiered at Tribeca 2022. The film explores the origins of the opioid crisis through the incredible rise and fall of twin brothers from Florida who became the kingpins of America's largest prescription drug trafficking network. Darren's previous feature documentary, Science Fair, won the Festival Favorite Award at Sundance 2018, the Audience Award at SXSW, a Critic's Choice Award and an Emmy. The film is being adapted into a narrative feature by Elizabeth Banks and Universal Pictures. Darren is the co-creator of "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller" on National Geographic and Executive Producer of "Mucho Mucho Amor" on Netflix. He's the co-founder of Muck Media.
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Biography from IMDb.
- Producer and director, also actor and writer
- 7 on MovieCove · 13 credits in all
Known for
What are Darren Foster's films like?
Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Power and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 0 · Dark 1
Grounded 4 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 1 · Intense 1
Steady 2 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 3 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 1
Resolved 3 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous3
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 Darren Foster's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Darren Foster'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, 7 with a MovieCove page.
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all shows
We Can Be Heroes(2024)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Open Wide (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Science Fair: The Series (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
American Pain(2022)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
Own the Room (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
Science Fair(2018)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Borderland (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Inside Secret America(2013)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)
Sex for Sale: American Escort (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
American Call-Girl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Career shape
A full career of 11 titles from 2011 to 2024.
Biggest box office
Science Fair (2018)
Highest rated
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (2020)
Most popular right now
The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth (2024)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.
Awards
Won a Sundance award in 2018, Festival Favorite.
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 Darren Foster's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 90th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 87th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 25th to 49th2
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 7 titles are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved3
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the pacing 68/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 73, detractors 40. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
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.
Who does Darren Foster work with?
People who share at least 2 of Darren Foster's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jennifer Wood shares the most, 6.
Directors
- Alex SimmonsShared titles: We Can Be Heroes (2024), Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (2020), Science Fair (2018), Inside Secret America (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Alex Simmons
- Cristina CostantiniShared titles: The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth (2024), We Can Be Heroes (2024), Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020), Science Fair (2018)See all 4 shared titles with Cristina Costantini
Writers
- Jeff PlunkettShared titles: Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020), Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (2020), Science Fair (2018)See all 3 shared titles with Jeff Plunkett
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Peter AltonShared titles: We Can Be Heroes (2024), Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020), Science Fair (2018)See all 3 shared titles with Peter Alton
- Jeff MorrowShared titles: American Pain (2022), Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020), Science Fair (2018)See all 3 shared titles with Jeff Morrow
- Tom MaroneyShared titles: Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020), Science Fair (2018), Inside Secret America (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Tom Maroney
Producers
- Jennifer WoodShared titles: The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth (2024), We Can Be Heroes (2024), American Pain (2022), Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020), Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (2020), Science Fair (2018)See all 6 shared titles with Jennifer Wood
- Carina Mia WongShared titles: We Can Be Heroes (2024), Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Carina Mia Wong
- Krista ManisShared titles: The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth (2024), We Can Be Heroes (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Krista Manis
- Samara Yeshaiek MidlerShared titles: The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth (2024), Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Samara Yeshaiek Midler