PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Movie

How to Cite a Movie in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a movie starts with the film's title in italics, then the words Directed by and the director's name, the production company, and the year the film came out: Awakenings. Directed by Penny Marshall, Columbia Pictures, 1990. If you watched it on a streaming service, the service's name follows in italics as a second container. The in-text citation is the title in italics, shortened if it's long, with a time stamp when you point to a scene: (Awakenings 00:42:07).

The format

Title of the Film. Directed by First Name Last Name, Production Company, Year. Streaming Service, URL.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 27, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Choose Film & Movies, then Domestic film, or Film in another language when the original title isn't in English. Add the director in the Director role, type the title in Film Title, the year in Release Year, and each company under Production Company. Watched it on a streaming service? Type the service's name in Platform, and PERRLA adds it in italics after the year. PERRLA puts the title in italics, writes Directed by, and separates two or more companies with a slash.

Writing about one performance or about the director's choices? Add that person with the Custom (No Director) role and type their role, like performer or director, in the Role box. PERRLA starts the entry with their name and role. For a director-first entry, use only the custom role, so the director's name doesn't also print after Directed by.

PERRLA can also look a film up: type its title followed by the word movie or paste its IMDb link into the reference search. It fills in the director, the year, and the production companies it can find. Before you save it, check two things against the film's credits: the year, which can come back as the year of the wide release, and the production companies, which can come back incomplete or under longer names. For a film in another language, the search brings in the English release title, so add it by hand as a Film in another language instead.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Title

A film entry usually starts with the title, because a movie is the work of many people. Put the title in italics and in title case, followed by a period.

Awakenings.

Title case in MLA keeps prepositions, articles, and coordinating conjunctions lowercase in the middle of a title, however long they are: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Keep an acronym in capitals, as in CODA.

2. Directed by

After the title, write Directed by and the director's name in normal order, first name first, then a comma. MLA calls this the other contributors element.

Directed by Penny Marshall,

Two directors are joined with and. Three or more: give the first director and et al. You can add other people the same way when they matter to your paper, like screenplay by and the writer's name.

3. A person first (optional)

If your paper focuses on one person's work, start with that person instead of the title: their name inverted, a comma, and their role in lowercase. Then the title follows.

Marshall, Penny, director. Awakenings. Columbia Pictures, 1990.

Fletcher, Louise, performer. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Directed by Milos Forman, Fantasy Films, 1975.

When the director leads the entry, don't repeat the director after the title. The in-text citation then uses that person's last name instead of the title.

4. Production company

Next comes the company that produced the film, then a comma. MLA treats it as the publisher. Separate two or more companies with a forward slash, with a space on each side.

Vendome Pictures / Pathé,

The production company is not the streaming service. Look for it in the opening or closing credits, or in a film database like the AFI Catalog.

5. Year

Give the year the film was released, then a period. Use the film's original release year, not the year of a DVD or the year a service added it.

1990.

6. Streaming service (second container)

If you watched the film on a streaming service, add the service's name in italics after the year, as a second container. Use the name the service has when you watch. Apple TV+ became Apple TV in October 2025.

Apple TV.

If you watched it in a browser, you can add the film's URL after the service's name, without the https://. Watched it in a theater, on a DVD, or in class? End the entry with the year.

7. Translated title (films in another language)

For a film in another language, keep the original title in italics, capitalized the way that language does it. Spanish, French, and Italian titles capitalize only the first word and proper nouns. Then give the English title in square brackets. A film's English release title is a published title, so it's in italics too.

Mar adentro [The Sea Inside].

Examples

A movie cited by its title

Milos Forman's 1975 film of Ken Kesey's novel, set in a state psychiatric hospital and still discussed in mental health nursing and ethics courses. The AFI Catalog lists Fantasy Films as its production company and spells the director's name Milos, as the credits do. MLA lowercases over in the title, since it's a preposition.

  • In-text citation(One Flew)
  • Narrative citationOne Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest shows …

A movie cited by its director

Penny Marshall's Awakenings, based on neurologist Oliver Sacks's book about patients with encephalitis lethargica. If your paper is about Marshall's choices as a director, start the entry with her name and the word director. The in-text citation then uses her last name. Sacks isn't in the entry, because he didn't make the film; mention him in your sentence if the book matters.

  • In-text citation(Marshall)
  • Narrative citationMarshall's Awakenings shows …

A movie cited for one actor's performance

Louise Fletcher won an Academy Award for playing Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. A paper about her portrayal can start the entry with her name and the word performer. The director still follows the title. The time stamp points to the moment you discuss, in hours, minutes, and seconds.

  • In-text citation(Fletcher 01:02:03)
  • Narrative citationAs Fletcher plays her, Nurse Ratched … (01:02:03).

A movie you watched on a streaming service

Siân Heder's CODA, about the only hearing member of a Deaf family. Apple's announcement names the production companies as Vendome Pictures and Pathé, so both go in the entry with a slash between them. The student watched it on Apple TV (called Apple TV+ until October 2025), which becomes a second container in italics.

  • In-text citation(CODA)
  • Narrative citationCODA shows …

A movie in another language

Alejandro Amenábar's Spanish film about Ramón Sampedro and his fight for the right to die, often used in end-of-life ethics discussions. Spain's Ministry of Culture film catalog lists four production companies: Sogecine, Himenóptero, UGC Images, and Eyescreen. The Spanish title stays first, capitalized the Spanish way, with the English release title in brackets.

  • In-text citation(Mar adentro)
  • Narrative citationIn Mar adentro, Amenábar …

In-text citations

An MLA in-text citation starts with whatever starts the Works Cited entry. Most film entries start with the title, so the citation is the title in italics, shortened when it's long to its first noun and any adjectives before it, leaving off a starting A, An, or The.

  • Cited by title: (Awakenings) or (CODA)
  • A scene or a quote: films have no page numbers, so add the time the moment starts, in hours, minutes, and seconds separated by colons, with no comma before it: (Awakenings 00:42:07)
  • Cited by a person: if the entry starts with the director or a performer, use that last name: (Marshall) or (Fletcher 01:02:03)
  • Title in your sentence: give only the time in parentheses, or leave the parentheses off when there's no time: In CODA, Ruby's family …

Name actors and characters in your sentence when they matter, and keep the citation keyed to the first element of the entry: Robin Williams plays Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Awakenings).

Common mistakes

  • Forman, Milos. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Fantasy Films, 1975.One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Directed by Milos Forman, Fantasy Films, 1975.A director isn't an author. Either start with the title and write Directed by, or start with the name and add director after it: Forman, Milos, director.
  • CODA. Directed by Siân Heder, Apple TV, 2021.CODA. Directed by Siân Heder, Vendome Pictures / Pathé, 2021. Apple TV.The streaming service isn't the production company. The companies that made the film go after the director, and the service goes at the end as a second container.
  • CODA. Directed by Siân Heder, Vendome Pictures, Pathé, 2021.CODA. Directed by Siân Heder, Vendome Pictures / Pathé, 2021.MLA separates two or more publishers with a forward slash, so a comma doesn't make them look like separate elements.
  • Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Fantasy Films.One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Directed by Milos Forman, Fantasy Films, 1975.That's APA. MLA starts with the title in title case, spells out the director's name after Directed by, and puts the year last.
  • (Marshall, 1990, 42:07)(Awakenings 00:42:07)That's APA. MLA keys the citation to the first element of the entry, here the title, with no year and no comma, and writes the time as hours, minutes, and seconds.
  • Mar Adentro. Directed by Alejandro Amenábar …Mar adentro [The Sea Inside]. Directed by Alejandro Amenábar …A title in another language keeps that language's capitalization; Spanish capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns. Add the English title in brackets.

Quick checklist

  • Title in italics and MLA title case, or a person first with their role
  • Directed by and the director's full name
  • Every production company, separated by a slash
  • The original release year
  • The streaming service in italics, if you watched it on one
  • In-text: the shortened title in italics, plus a time stamp for a scene

Questions students ask

How do I cite a movie I watched on Netflix in MLA?

Write the film's entry as usual: title, Directed by, production company, and year. Then add Netflix in italics as a second container, and the film's URL if you watched it in a browser.

Do I start a movie citation with the title or the director in MLA?

It depends on your focus. Most papers discuss the film as a whole, so start with the title. If you're writing about the director's choices, start with the director's name, inverted, followed by director. Your in-text citation then uses the director's last name.

How do I cite a quote or a scene from a movie in MLA?

Add the time where the moment starts after the title, in hours, minutes, and seconds: (Awakenings 00:42:07). For a range, give the start and end: 00:42:07–43:10. Your streaming service or player shows the running time.

Do I include the actors in an MLA movie citation?

Only when they matter to your paper. You can add them after the director, as in performances by and their names, or, if you're writing about one actor's work, start the entry with that actor's name followed by performer. Otherwise, name actors in your sentence.

What's the publisher of a movie in MLA?

The company chiefly responsible for making the film, usually the production company in the credits. Leave off endings like Inc. and LLC. If two or more companies share the credit, separate them with a forward slash.

How is MLA different from APA for a movie?

MLA starts with the title in italics and title case, puts the director after Directed by, and ends with the year and any streaming service. APA starts with the director and (Director), puts the year second, uses sentence case and [Film], and leaves the service out.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, containers, and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's posts on citing a film by its title or its director, in-text citations for films (including the slash between production companies), films based on books, titles in other languages and international titles, prepositions in titles, shortening titles, and time stamps, plus its ninth-edition post on quoting dialogue from a film (time stamps, and a spaced slash between production companies). The examples are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: director, year, and production company in the AFI Catalog for One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (which also lists Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched) and Awakenings, Apple's announcement for CODA, and Spain's Ministry of Culture (ICAA) catalog for Mar adentro; the AFI pages were opened again on October 27, 2026.

PERRLA builds the movie entry with the title in italics, Directed by, and every production company in place.

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