---
title: "True Blood"
year: 2008
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/true-blood"
fi1m_score: 71
critics_score: 72
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-17T01:01:22.021850+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T01:01:22.360955+00:00"
region: "US"
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."
---

# True Blood (2008)

Created by Alan Ball · 1h 00m · MPA TV-MA · Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Mystery

**Fi1m score: 71** · Critics 72 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* Everyone in Bon Temps is a vampire, sleeping with one, or about to be, and the police are the last to know

> Alan Ball’s Louisiana vampire saga is lurid, funny and far better written than it needs to be, for about three seasons. Anna Paquin holds it together long after the plotting has stopped trying. Worth your evenings, with a firm sense of when to stop.

## Synopsis

Bon Temps, Louisiana, two years after vampires announced themselves to the world and a synthetic blood made biting people optional. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) waits tables at Merlotte’s, the bar owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), and hears every thought in the bar. When Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), the town’s first vampire, sits in her section and she hears nothing from him, she is smitten. Her brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) has a taste for the wrong women, her friend Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley) has a mouth that costs her jobs, and Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis) runs the kitchen and several sidelines. Then a local woman is found dead with bite marks, and the police look at Jason first.

## Review

Two years before the first episode, vampires announced themselves to the world, helped by a synthetic blood sold in bottles that means they no longer need to bite anyone. Alan Ball, whose last series was [*Six Feet Under*](https://film.one/tv/six-feet-under), takes that premise from Charlaine Harris’s novels and sets it in Bon Temps, a small Louisiana town where the heat never breaks. For three seasons the result is among the most enjoyable things television has done with the undead: filthy, funny and quicker on its feet than it looks. It then runs for four more, and by the end we were watching out of loyalty.

The series belongs to Anna Paquin. Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress who hears everybody’s thoughts, and Paquin plays her as a woman permanently tired of other people, cheerful and sharp with it. When Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) walks into Merlotte’s and she hears nothing from him at all, her relief is the whole romance in one look. Moyer plays Bill stiff and courtly, a gentleman who has not updated his manners, and the two have a real heat. Then Alexander Skarsgård arrives as Eric Northman, tall, amused and bored by everyone, and takes the series off both of them.

The bar staff are as good as the leads. Nelsan Ellis’s Lafayette Reynolds, the cook, can end an argument with one eyebrow. Rutina Wesley gives Tara Thornton a fury the writing does not always deserve, and Adina Porter, as her mother Lettie Mae, is frightening in a way the vampires seldom manage. Ryan Kwanten plays Sookie’s brother Jason as a beautiful idiot and never once sneers at him. Carrie Preston, Chris Bauer and Jim Parrack fill out the town with people who have somewhere to be after the scene ends.

Suzuki Ingerslev’s production design makes Bon Temps feel lived in. Merlotte’s is wood, neon and ceiling fans; Bill’s house is a plantation pile with the paint coming off; the vampire bar over in Shreveport is red light, leather and a throne. The night scenes are lit as if by porch bulbs, so the vampires have to step into the yellow to be seen. The title sequence, a fast cut of swamp, roadkill, revival tents and a church sign reading “God hates fangs”, tells you more about the show’s appetites than any single episode.

In the first episode Sookie finds Bill chained in silver in the car park behind Merlotte’s, being drained by a couple with a pickup, and the soundtrack goes quiet around him while every other head in the frame keeps buzzing. We were not expecting to be moved by a series with this much nudity in it, and we were: the silence told us what she had been living with before anyone wrote her a speech about it. The show is worst when it explains its metaphor, vampires as a minority demanding rights, then drops it whenever the plot needs the vampires to be monsters again.

The plotting is the trouble in the long run. Each season adds a species, shapeshifters, then werewolves, then witches, then fairies, until Bon Temps has more kinds of creature than it has parking. The fourth season is lifted by Fiona Shaw as Marnie Stonebrook, a shop owner frightened of her own power, played with a trembling politeness. After that the writing thins, the cast is split across four or five stories an episode, and the sixth and seventh seasons, shorter at ten episodes each, feel longer than the ones before. We were bored for stretches of the last year, and cross about it, because the people on screen were still good company.

It has [*Buffy the Vampire Slayer*](https://film.one/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer)’s wit without its discipline, and a frankness about sex and blood the teenage vampire romances of the same years would not go near. The 18 certificate is honest. Watch the first three seasons without guilt. If you carry on, and you probably will, do it for Paquin, Ellis and Skarsgård rather than for answers, which the series stopped caring about before you did. Eighty hour-long episodes is a long time to spend anywhere, even a town this hospitable.

*Fi1m score 71, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics take to True Blood as trashy fun made with some care. The reviews lean positive, four of six in favour and none against, and the praise clusters on Anna Paquin, whose Sookie is repeatedly named as the thing that holds the series together, and on her chemistry with Stephen Moyer. Several critics enjoy the Southern Gothic swagger, the baroque swearing, the sex and the cliffhangers, and a couple think the writing is sharper than the pulp surface suggests.

The reservations cluster on tone. The AV Club finds the pilot overcooked, leaning on Deep South stereotypes and heavy-handed metaphor, and Empire thinks the show settles for guilty pleasure where smarter satire was on offer. The Hollywood Reporter warns that the profanity, gore and cruelty will keep it to genre fans. The spread is fairly narrow, from decent to good, with Den of Geek the warmest and nobody actively unimpressed.

### Reviews we read (6)

- **The Guardian** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds True Blood tremendous fun, full of baroque swearing and weird sex, with strong writing that handles exposition well. They praise the demented characters and note that even at its worst it is far better than most other TV. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/jul/17/true-blood-review)
- **Variety**, Brian Lowry (75/100, inferred): The critic sees potential for a cult hit thanks to soapy elements, gothic atmosphere, cliffhangers and Anna Paquin’s performance, even if the show feels a bit hokey. They single out the central Sookie-Bill relationship as the beating heart. [Read](https://variety.com/2008/film/awards/true-blood-3-1200471032/)
- **Empire**, William Thomas (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the series a trashy, over-the-top Southern Gothic guilty pleasure full of sex, violence and pulp, though it falls short of smart satire. They praise its fun, seething sinfulness despite ludicrous characters and soap-opera plots. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/true-blood-season-1-review/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter** (65/100, inferred): The critic praises Alan Ball’s creation of a unique world and strong performances from Paquin and supporting cast, but notes the series’ profanity, gore and cruelty will limit its appeal beyond genre fans. They highlight the engaging Sookie character. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/true-blood-125622/)
- **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (C+): The critic finds the pilot overcooked with Deep South stereotypes, heavy-handed metaphors, and uneven supporting characters, but notes real potential in the premise of vampires integrating into society and the chemistry between Sookie and Bill. Praises Anna Paquin for creating an infectious, well-defined heroine that anchors the show. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/true-blood-strange-love-1798204913)
- **Den of Geek**, Emma Matthews (85/100, inferred): The review calls the pilot a standout introduction to a smart, funny, extremely well-written and original series that goes to places other vampire stories avoid. Singles out the superb cast, undeniable chemistry between leads Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, and Ryan Kwanten's surprisingly convincing performance as Jason for particular praise. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/true-blood-season-1-episode-1-review/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Alan Ball
- **Creator:** Alan Ball
- **Director:** Michael Lehmann, Scott Winant, Daniel Minahan, Howard Deutch, John Dahl, Michael Ruscio, Dan Attias, Romeo Tirone, Lesli Linka Glatter, David Petrarca, Alan Ball, Stephen Moyer, Anthony Hemingway, Gregg Fienberg, Nick Gomez, Lee Rose, Nancy Oliver, Jesse Warn, Angela Robinson, Marcos Siega, Adam Davidson, Jeremy Podeswa, Simon Jayes, Michael Cuesta
- **Writer:** Kate Barnow, Elisabeth R. Finch, Alan Ball, Brian Buckner, Alexander Woo, Chris Offutt, Raelle Tucker, Nancy Oliver, Angela Robinson, Mark Hudis, Kenneth Daniel, Craig Chester, Robin Veith
- **Production design:** Suzuki Ingerslev
- **Producer:** W. Mark McNair, Alexander Woo, Raelle Tucker
- **Cast:** Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse; Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton; Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman; Sam Trammell as Sam Merlotte; Ryan Kwanten as Jason Stackhouse; Jim Parrack as Hoyt Fortenberry; Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette Reynolds; Carrie Preston as Arlene Fowler
- **Runtime:** 1h 00m
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA
- **Release (the US):** 7 September 2008
- **Genres:** Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Mystery
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wk3HSiX-vQ

## Where to watch in the US

- HBO Max: streaming
- Hulu: streaming, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Disney+: add-on, hd
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd
- Apple TV: buy, hd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series 2013: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (nominated)
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 2011: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (nominated)
- SAG Awards 2011: Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series (won)
- Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Genre 2011: Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Genre (nominated)
- Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi 2010: Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi (nominated)
- Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series 2009: Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series (won)
- Golden Globes 2008: Best Actress – Television Series Drama (won)

## If you liked this

- *Six Feet Under* (2001), Fi1m 86: Ball’s earlier series; the same mix of death, sex and family, with the fangs removed. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/six-feet-under.md)
- *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* (1997), Fi1m 80: The template for vampires as metaphor, and much stricter about finishing its stories. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer.md)
- *Let the Right One In* (2008), Fi1m 88: A Swedish vampire romance conducted in snow and near silence, and the sadder for it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/let-the-right-one-in.md)
- *Near Dark* (1987): Kathryn Bigelow’s vampires drive the American backroads in a blacked-out van; no capes, all appetite.
- *A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night* (2014): A skateboarding vampire in an Iranian ghost town, shot in black and white, oddly tender.

---
© 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/tv/true-blood