True Detective Season 4: Who Directed Night Country?

True Detective Season 4, Night Country, revived the HBO crime anthology show’s Season 1 approach of having one director helm all its episodes. So, who directed True Detective: Night Country?

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True Detective Season 4: Who Directed Night Country?

Mexican filmmaker Issa López directed all six episodes of True Detective Season 4, Night Country. López also created the Night Country incarnation of the series – the first developed without True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto’s involvement – and served as its showrunner, writing or co-writing every installment. Her most well-known project prior to shepherding True Detective Season 4 was the acclaimed Mexican crime/fantasy-horror film Tigers Are Not Afraid, which she wrote and directed.

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Tigers Are Not Afraid nabbed over 50 industry awards and won López plenty of fans, including Hollywood heavyweights Guillermo del Toro, Noah Hawley, and Jason Blum. She’s now collaborating with Del Toro, Hawley, and Blum on a trio of unrelated big screen productions. By contrast, her work on True Detective proved more divisive, with Pizzolatto publicly denouncing Night Country as “so stupid” on social media.

Is Issa López Directing True Detective Season 5?

Fortunately for López (and fans of Night Country), Pizzolatto’s criticism didn’t deter HBO from rehiring the Mexican filmmaker for the recently announced fifth season of True Detective. López landing the True Detective Season 5 gig didn’t come as much of a surprise, given Season 4’s predominantly positive reviews and series-best viewership figures. HBO’s head of drama Francesca Orsi acknowledged López’s role in Night Country‘s strong performance in a statement accompanying Season 5’s announcement.

“Issa López is that one-of-a-kind, rare talent that speaks directly to HBO’s creative spirit,” Orsi’s statement read, in part. “She helmed True Detective: Night Country from start to finish, never once faltering from her own commendable vision, and inspiring us with her resilience both on the page and behind the camera… she’s made this installation of the franchise a massive success, we are so lucky to have her as part of our family.”

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In her own press statement, López credited Orsi, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys, and the wider HBO team for backing her take on the True Detective property.

“From conception to release, Night Country has been the most beautiful collaboration and adventure of my entire creative life,” López said. “HBO trusted my vision all the way, and the idea of bringing to life a new incarnation of True Detective with Casey, Francesca, and the whole team is a dream come true. I can’t wait to go again.”

All six episodes of True Detective: Night Country are currently streaming on HBO and Max.