Ten years already. A decade has passed since the debut of "True Detective," a thriller that shook up the genre in 2014 by starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as two cops in Louisiana. A tortuous storyline, navigation between eras, ambitious direction: everything was successful in this series that has become cult. So much so that season 2, the following year, with a new story and new actors, was severely criticized and too much compared to the first, failing to repeat the tour de force. Nic Pizzolatto, creator and screenwriter, then took his time before returning with a frankly exciting season 3 in 2019, carried by Mahershala Ali.
Five years later, the author handed over the reins. It's a woman who takes over the reins of fiction, Issa Lopez. The Mexican producer is co-writing and directing the entirety of this new six-episode series called "Night Country," which premieres this Monday, January 15 on the Warner Pass (a paid option available to Prime Video subscribers). It relies on a negative plot from the early days of the series. It is now a female duo who investigate, in an icy Alaska, the opposite of the humid and stifling Louisiana of the origins. There, a team of scientists living almost cut off from the world in a research station suddenly disappears. Their bodies are later found naked, frozen, in the middle of the icy wilderness.
The two actresses chosen by Issa Lopez to embody his heroines are fantastic. Jodie Foster, 61, first of all, in the skin of Liz Danvers, the rough-and-tumble police chief, multiplying lovers and overwhelming her subordinates with overtime. It was because she felt an influence of "The Silence of the Lambs" on the first season of the series, that Issa Lopez had the idea to contact Jodie Foster, an actress from the film more than thirty years ago.
An explosive duo
She stars Kali Reis, a world-famous former boxer who is at the dawn of her acting career. The 37-year-old plays Indigenous police officer Evangeline Navarro, who is still obsessed with the unsolved murder of a woman in her community six years earlier. It soon becomes clear that this death may well be linked to the mysterious new case. Past colleagues, Navarro and Danvers are at odds and will have to put their differences aside to investigate effectively.
Together, they form an explosive duo in a frozen and nocturnal setting because, at this latitude in the middle of winter, it is permanently dark. This gives a mystical vibe to this season that lives up to its name. Especially since a supernatural element seems to be invited into the plot... These new episodes also benefit from a fascinating macabre aesthetic, as was already the case in season 1. Issa Lopez's camera, which landed in Alaska and Iceland for this shoot, knows perfectly how to sublimate the icy expanses that are as hostile as they are hypnotic.
With two fewer episodes than the previous seasons (6 instead of 8), "True Detective: Night Country" chooses sobriety and avoids getting lost in unnecessary detours while delivering a beautifully rich storyline, plunging into the bowels of a deeply divided society and facing major economic and ecological dilemmas. A chilling thriller in every sense of the word.
Editor's Note:
4.5/5
"True Detective: Night Country"
American series by Issa Lopez (2024) with Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Christopher Eccleston... Episode 1/6 (59 minutes). A installment added every Monday on Prime Video with the paid Warner Pass option.