SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – A couple who just had a baby, a man who proposed to his girlfriend, a woman who was promoted at work. They are all victims of a serial arsonist in “Cortina de Fumaça” (Smoke Screen), from Apple TV+. Upon hearing stories of other people’s happiness, the criminal selects his victims and burns down homes, stores, and vehicles along the way.
The equation becomes more complicated, however, when the investigator realizes that there is a second arsonist in the fictional town of Umberland, United States. Their targets and modus operandi are different, but they are equally dangerous.
Played by Taron Egerton, Dave Gudsen has been on the case for years, unable to identify or even stop the criminal duo. Therefore, he receives reinforcement from Michelle Calderone, a police detective played by Jurnee Smollett. At first, there is conflict, but they quickly develop synergy.
Both members of the duo are tormented by their pasts. Gudsen, a former firefighter, frequently has nightmares about being trapped inside a burning house. Calderone, demoted from the narcotics division, is haunted by her abusive former boss, who was also her lover, in a twisted relationship of desire and power.
Launched this week, “Cortina de Fumaça” marks another partnership between Egerton, creator Dennis Lehane, and Apple TV+, following “Black Bird.” It is also another series with a substantial budget and high technical quality—a “premium” television product, as many like to classify series with production value above average.
That didn’t make it any easier for Lehane to convince the platform to use practical special effects, rather than simply simulating fires on the computer.
The creator and producer, who is also a novelist and has previously seen his writing adapted for the screen in other violent-themed productions such as “Sobre Meninos e Lobos” (“Boys and Wolves”) and “Ilha do Medo” (“Shutter Island”), rejects the current rampant use of CGI—computer-generated imagery, usually applied onto green screens physically present in the studio—and advocates for a more artisanal approach.
That’s why he adapted a studio in Canada with fireproof materials and set it on fire for some scenes in “Curtain Call.” Special effects professionals, paramedics, and firefighters monitored the shots, which used CGI only sparingly. “When it wasn’t necessary, I would say no [to computers], as long as everyone’s safety could be guaranteed,” says Lehane.
I’m not sure if I was scared [while filming], but it was a very intense experience,” says Egerton, who spends several minutes of the series surrounded by flames. “It’s very hot, very oppressive, very uncomfortable. You have to be careful how you breathe. But it helped me a lot, because it forced me to live in the moment. Green screen is the death of any actor, so the practical effects provide a certain magic to this series.
“Cortina de Fumaça” is loosely based on the “Firebug” podcast, which in turn took as its script the real story of John Leonard Orr, a serial arsonist who set southern California ablaze between 1984 and 1991.
However, the show’s team sought distance from the character. They were more interested in the fact that he had described many of his crimes, in detail, in a novel. Orr glimpsed the idea of being a great novelist, in a strange delirium driven by distorted notions of ego and masculinity, other themes that make “Cortina de Fumaça” catch fire.
He was a guy who created versions of himself inside his own head. Within the book he wrote, he was the hero chasing the villain, the arsonist—who in real life was himself. It’s a crazy story,” says Lehane. “So I took that premise, took some of the specifics of the fires he set, and went into fiction.
All the characters in the plot are somehow related to the expectations and pressures we place upon ourselves. In one scene, while preventing a fire, Egerton’s character gets an erection. With a large, phallic-shaped bulge in his pants, he smiles contentedly, showing that the danger of the job is a strange way to reaffirm his masculinity.
“There is a certain aggressiveness in the idea of being masculine, and the thing with my character is that he doesn’t understand that our greatest strength, sometimes, lies in vulnerability, in the way you connect with yourself, not with the image you present to others,” says Egerton.
It’s a character who can only see himself within an archetype, the idea of the hero. It’s very toxic. It’s not just me saying this; we have several examples of toxic masculinity in important positions around the world today. This cult of the strong man is a disturbingly relevant discussion in 2025.
SMOKE SCREEN
– When it premieres this Friday (27) on Apple TV+
– Classification 16 years
– Cast: Taron Egerton, Jurnee Smollett e Greg Kinnear
– Production USA, 2025
– Creation by Dennis Lehane
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