Joe Chappelle is a capable television director whose images can hold our attention after a story has begun to drag. We value his visual assurance in Smoke, with reservations about the drama it serves.
Fi1m perspective
The fires in Smoke (2025) are disturbingly attractive. We felt uneasy about wanting to keep watching them, because the cinematography makes burning so compelling in a story about arson. François Dagenais and Sam McCurdy deserve their share of the credit, as do Chappelle’s fellow directors Jim McKay and Kari Skogland. Chappelle directed five of the nine episodes, a substantial contribution to a series whose images remain forceful even when the investigation loses momentum. We would give him credit for that confidence without pretending it belongs to him alone.
His route to this work began with Thieves Quartet (1994), an independent feature he wrote and directed, followed by studio horror including Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995). Television became his principal work in the early 2000s. On David Simon’s The Wire (2002), he directed six episodes and was co-executive producer on seasons three to five. Producing and directing roles on CSI: Miami (2002) and Fringe (2008) continued that commitment to working within an established programme. That work asks for the kind of visual and tonal consistency we recognise in Smoke.
He returned to writing and directing features with An Acceptable Loss (2019), but his career has largely remained in television. Smoke is a fair warning about the limits of that steady craftsmanship. Jeremy Stanbridge’s production design gives the series carefully finished surroundings without telling us much about the people occupying them. The images hold their force, yet the arson investigation becomes repetitive over nine episodes.
Taron Egerton and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine make the stronger case for staying with Smoke. Their performances are the main reason we would suggest it to someone interested in the subject, though they cannot cure its repetitions. The direction alone would not persuade us to commit to all nine episodes. We would follow Chappelle into another crime drama, preferably one with fewer hours to fill.
Biography
Joe Chappelle is an American director, producer and screenwriter of film and television. Born in 1961 in New Jersey, he began working in the industry in the early 1990s.
He is known for directing episodes of the HBO series The Wire (2002–2008), on which he also served as co-executive producer for several seasons. His other directing credits include episodes of Fringe (2008–2012), CSI: Miami (2002–2009), Chicago Fire (2012–), Godfather of Harlem (2019–2023), Black Bird (2022) and Tulsa King (2022–). He directed the feature film An Acceptable Loss (2018).
Chappelle directed five episodes and was an executive producer on the 2025 series Smoke.
