True Detective: Night Countryis a cold season of television — literally. Set in the small remote town of Ennis, Alaska, the Issa López-createdTrue Detectiveseason is defined as much by its setting’s snow-covered ground as it is by its eternally dark sky. It stands in stark contrast tothe first three seasons ofTrue Detective, all of which take place in sun-soaked environments (Louisiana, Arkansas, and Los Angeles). That fact doesn’t just makeTrue Detective: Night Countryunique in its own HBO show’s history, but also in the crime genre at large.
There simply haven’t been many high-profile, Hollywood-produced crime thrillers set in snowy regions. Consequently,Night Country’s story and setting combine to create the kind of viewing experience that remains fairly hard to come by. And anyone in the mood for more crime dramas likeNight Countryshould check out the following five films.
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattooisn’t just the most underrated film thatDavid Fincherhas ever made, but it’s also one of Hollywood’s chilliest contemporary crime thrillers. Based on Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name, the film follows a disgraced journalist (Daniel Craig) and an antisocial hacker (Rooney Mara) as they’re hired to investigate the decades-old disappearance of a young girl, which leads them to look into the deaths of countless other women.
Its dark, ice-cold story is reflected by its setting, a Swedish island in the middle of winter, which Fincher and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth use to their full advantage. There are few movies that more effectively make winter itself seem like a season brimming with ghosts, death, and unspoken danger.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoois streaming onParamount+.
2. Wind River (2017)
Set on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, this neo-Western crime thriller fromYellowstonecreator Taylor Sheridan is tense, thrilling, and deeply tragic. LikeTrue Detective: Night Country, it tries to bring an indigenous perspective to a Hollywood genre that has long lacked it, and in doing so, the film manages to emerge as something more ambitious and compelling than it may initially seem.
Shot on location in Utah,Wind Riveralso makes excellent use of its frozen environments — forcing viewers to feel the crunch of the snow under its characters’ feet and the uncomfortable level of cold that they’re constantly forced to endure. UnlikeNight Country, it’s set largely during the day, but that doesn’t stopWind Riverfrom making you want to instinctively shiver just a little as you watch it.
Wind Riveris streaming onAmazon Prime Video.
3. Winter’s Bone (2010)
Set in the Ozarks,Winter’s Boneis mostly known as the film that effectively launched Jennifer Lawrence’s career. As impressive as she is in it, though, the 2010 drama has a lot more going for it than just her performance. LikeTrue Detective: Night Country, it introduces viewers to a rural community that follows its own rules and is kept together by the odd connections between its inhabitants.
Watching Lawrence’s Ree navigate her way through the film’s dangerous, underground criminal world as she tries to find proof of her father’s death proves to be unexpectedly entertaining and engaging, too, as does witnessing her relationship with her uncle, Teardrop (Night Countrystar John Hawkes), evolve in ways that are both stirring and heart-wrenching. It’s not a film that feels the need to overstate any of its big ideas or climactic moments, and that only makesWinter’s Boneall the more immersive and quietly impactful.
Winter’s Boneis streaming onMax.
4. Hold the Dark (2018)
An Alaska-set thriller about a wolf expert (Jeffrey Wright) who is hired to investigate the disappearance of a young boy,Hold the Darkisn’t quite as bluntly effective asGreen Room, the punk rock thriller that director Jeremy Saulnier made two years before it. The film is, nonetheless, one of the most relentlessly gripping thrillers thatNetflixhas ever produced.
It’s not only just as atmospheric as it is riveting, but its entire plot also pivots around an unforgettable midpoint shootout that is shocking in both its staging and brutality. The film cements Saulnier as one of the most gifted thriller directors, and it uses its snow-covered Alaska setting to further trap viewers in its cold, steely grip.
Hold the Darkis streaming onNetflix.
5. Blow the Man Down (2020)
Released on Amazon Prime early in 2020,Blow the Man Downhas never received the level of attention that it deserves. A darkly comedic thriller that owes as much of a debt to noir classics likeShadow of a Doubtas it does to offbeat, contemporary crime dramas likeFargo, this low-budget, Maine-set film follows a pair of sisters who are forced to cover up a murder.
Their attempts to do so prove alternately successful and not, but the light that their crime ultimately shines on the inner workings of their perpetually windy, seaside hometown reveals more startling truths than they — or those watching at home — could ever have predicted. Tonally and aesthetically,Blow the Man Downis very different fromTrue Detective: Night Country, but its central crime plot is no less engrossing and its setting is just as bitterly and brilliantly cold.
