---
name: "Hiro Murai"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/hiro-murai"
fi1m_id: "hiro-murai"
imdb_id: "nm2033604"
tmdb_id: 1199903
wikidata_id: "Q28154065"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "13 May 1983"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 81
average_as: "director"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-01T00:23:28.393767+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Hiro Murai

## Identity

Hiro Murai

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/hiro-murai
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** hiro-murai
- **IMDb ID:** nm2033604
- **TMDB ID:** 1199903
- **Wikidata ID:** Q28154065
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiro_Murai, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28154065, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2033604/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1199903

Director and producer. Born 13 May 1983 in Tokyo, Japan.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 13 May 1983, Tokyo, Japan
- **Active:** 2016–present
- **Also known as:** ひろ むらい, ヒロ ムライ
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 7: 6 directing, 1 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Adamma Ebo](https://film.one/person/adamma-ebo.md), [Amy Seimetz](https://film.one/person/amy-seimetz.md), [Christian Sprenger](https://film.one/person/christian-sprenger.md), [Donald Glover](https://film.one/person/donald-glover.md), [Francesca Sloane](https://film.one/person/francesca-sloane.md), [Kaitlin Waldron](https://film.one/person/kaitlin-waldron.md), [Stephen Glover](https://film.one/person/stephen-glover.md), [Taofik Kolade](https://film.one/person/taofik-kolade.md)
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 81, as director, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 83 (3), 2020s 80 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 81 to 82 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 6, Comedy 4, Action & Adventure 2, Mystery 2, Crime 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiro_Murai, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28154065, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2033604/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1199903

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Atlanta*](https://film.one/tv/atlanta.md) (87), [*Legion*](https://film.one/tv/legion.md) (77)
- **HBO Max:** [*Barry*](https://film.one/tv/barry.md) (85), [*Station Eleven*](https://film.one/tv/station-eleven.md) (84)
- **Apple TV:** [*Widow's Bay*](https://film.one/tv/widows-bay.md) (80)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Mr. & Mrs. Smith*](https://film.one/tv/mr-and-mrs-smith.md) (73)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Hiro Murai

> Hiro Murai lets comedy and horror occupy the same scene without making either feel like an interruption. We like his television most when strange events leave people's ordinary concerns intact; *Widow's Bay* does this particularly well.

In *Widow's Bay* (2026), the town's business still matters after the supernatural arrives. Hiro Murai and writer Katie Dippold keep those everyday concerns in the story, rather than clearing them away whenever something frightening happens. The humour belongs to people who have other things to get on with, which gives the unease time to take hold. We were unsettled by the shifts between humour and unease, because the jokes never made the island feel safely under control. Murai is good at allowing a programme to become strange without making its people cease to matter.

He began as a cinematographer and director of music videos in the mid-2000s. His work with Donald Glover runs from the short *Clapping for the Wrong Reasons* (2013) to *Atlanta* (2016–2022), on which he directed 26 episodes. That sustained collaboration gave his shifts between comedy, horror and absurdity room to develop. *Guava Island* (2019), with Glover and Rihanna, connects the music-video work to longer storytelling. He has also directed episodes of *Barry* (2018–2019) and *Station Eleven* (2021–2022).

He often obscures action, uses high-contrast lighting and lets peripheral details pull attention away from the protagonist. The framing can make us feel like observers who have not been granted the clearest view. We have to look around rather than simply follow the speaker. That suits the changes between comedy and horror: something unexpected has room to become important.

In *Widow's Bay*, Matthew Rhys and Kate O'Flynn help make the ensemble worth caring about. Our reservation is that the supernatural rules sometimes demand more attention than they deserve. When keeping track of them becomes a task, it distracts from the people Murai and Dippold have kept so firmly in view. We would rather spend longer with this ensemble than be set more homework about its supernatural circumstances. Start here for the company, and be patient with the rules.

## Biography

Hiro Murai is a Japanese filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Born in Tokyo in 1983, he moved to California at the age of nine and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He is the son of Japanese composer Kunihiko Murai.

Murai began his career directing music videos, including work for Childish Gambino, Earl Sweatshirt and others. He rose to prominence directing and producing episodes of the FX series *Atlanta* (2016–2022), on which he collaborated extensively with Donald Glover. He has also directed episodes of *Barry* (2018–2023), *Station Eleven* (2021–2022), *Legion* (2017), *Snowfall* (2017) and *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* (2024), and served as an executive producer on *The Bear*.

In 2026 he directed five episodes of the Apple TV+ series *Widow's Bay* and acted as an executive producer. His work has earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, thewrap.com, variety.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

### Directed (6) — the average rests on these

- *Widow's Bay* (2026), Fi1m 80, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/widows-bay.md)
- *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* (2024), Fi1m 73, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/mr-and-mrs-smith.md)
- *Station Eleven* (2021), Fi1m 84, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/station-eleven.md)
- *Barry* (2018), Fi1m 85, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/barry.md)
- *Legion* (2017), Fi1m 77, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/legion.md)
- *Atlanta* (2016), Fi1m 87, Producer, Executive Producer, Director, Co-Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/atlanta.md)

### Produced (1)

- *The Bear* (2022), Fi1m 82, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-bear-2022.md)

## Complete filmography (21)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Gary* (2026), Executive Producer
- *Widow's Bay* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/widows-bay.md)
- *She Rides Shotgun* (2025), Producer
- *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* (2024), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/tv/mr-and-mrs-smith.md)
- *The Bear* (2022), series, Executive Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-bear-2022.md)
- *Station Eleven* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/station-eleven.md)
- *The Choe Show* (2021), series, Executive Producer
- *Guava Island* (2019), Director, Executive Producer
- *Barry* (2018), series, as Japanese Bomb (voice) · Director — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/tv/barry.md)
- *Sea Oak* (2017), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Snowfall* (2017), series, Director
- *Legion* (2017), series, Director — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/legion.md)
- *Atlanta* (2016), series, Director, Producer, Co-Executive Producer, Executive Producer — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/tv/atlanta.md)
- *Massive Attack, Tricky & 3D - Take It There* (2016), Director
- *Clapping for the Wrong Reasons* (2013), Director
- *Drunk History* (2007), series, Director of Photography
- *Where I End*, Producer
- *Man Alive*, Director
- *Strobe*, Producer
- *Bushido*, Director, Producer
- *The Marriage Plot*, series, Executive Producer

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 2026: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (won), for *Welcome to Widow's Bay!*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/hiro-murai