‘Black Mirror’ Season 4 Hires John Hillcoat To Direct Episode
John Hillcoat has been tapped to direct an episode of Black Mirror‘s fourth season. Oh yeah. Black Mirror. Season 4! It’s coming, and you’ll be able to enjoy it, in-between. You know. Living in this reality, which is a fucking episode of the show unto itself.
When we were assembling our list of favorite moments of 2016, it was decided late in the process to exclude television and focus solely on movies. The decision was made to keep the list manageable, but it also meant we didn’t get a chance to pay tribute to the third season of the science fiction anthology series Black Mirror, which contains my absolute favorite piece of pop culture anything to come out of last year: the episode “San Junipero.” While the season had its ups and down, those highs were remarkably, deliciously high. Nothing abuses my soul quite like the pitch-black world of Black Mirror and it always leaves me begging for more.
So it’s only natural that director John Hillcoat, a man whose filmography is built entirely on movies where nasty and awful things happen to just about everyone unfortunate enough to enter the frame, has reportedly signed on to direct an episode of the upcoming fourth season. He’ll fit right in.
This story comes our way via The Tracking Board, who say that Hillcoat will helm an episode titled “Crocodile.” Details are unknown, but the story apparently revolves around two women, one of whom could be played by Birdman and Nocturnal Animals star Andrea Riseborough.
While we don’t know what Hillcoat’s episode will be about, the pessimistic, bleak worldview he’s showcased in his past work makes him a perfect match for Black Mirror. In films like The Proposition and The Road, he showcased a remarkable eye for misery and the unique ability to make the audience hunger and thirst alongside his characters. Even his more accessible work, like Lawless and Triple 9, are more hard-edged than most Hollywood movies.