Ron Howard is long overdue to have his filmography viewed through the lens of the auteur theory. Since his debut in the late-1970s, he has remained one of the most prolific and recognizable working filmmakers, and yet... his 'directed by' titles have garnished a low amount of commentary by film academics. Even younger mainstream directors have earned more than one volume of academic attention — and yet Howard, who has continually developed himself, seems to only get treated with pop-culture-trivia 'fun fact' regarding his acting career.

There is no definitive visual aesthetic we can pinpoint to Howard's movies, which in of itself is part of his authorship. The Films of Ron Howard looks at the themes he has addressed repeatedly throughout four-plus decades of directing movies.