Jurnee Smollett-Bell

In The Order (2024), Jurnee Smollett-Bell's Joanne Carney stands beside Jude Law's Husk in briefings, an FBI colleague whom the film scarcely allows to contribute. We were frustrated by how little she was given to do once she had arrived to help. Justin Kurzel makes a lean, well-made procedural, but its women are chiefly there to tell us about its men. Carney is treated as a fellow professional; the script then does little with that apparent equality.

That is a narrow use of an actor whose work has moved well beyond the child lead in Eve's Bayou (1997). The Great Debaters (2007), directed by and co-starring Denzel Washington, gave her a notable adult film role. Television brought wider notice through Underground (2016–2017) and Lovecraft Country (2020), both collaborations with Misha Green. The latter draws particularly well on her ability to make a determined woman emotionally credible, even within horror. Playing Black Canary in Birds of Prey (2020) also required preparation for action sequences and stunt work.

Smoke (2025) gives us a more useful measure of her than The Order, though not an unqualified recommendation. As Michelle Calderone, she helps keep the people interesting when the arson investigation is doing too little to justify its nine episodes. There is care in the performance, and we wanted the series to give that care a less repetitive story. Taron Egerton and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine nevertheless make the stronger impression; calling Smollett-Bell its principal attraction would be generous at their expense.

We would not put every modest impression down to an underwritten role: Smoke gives us a performance worth noticing, not its strongest one. Nor does Carney's lack of scenes make The Order a poor film; it remains the firmer recommendation of the two. But anyone choosing it principally for Smollett-Bell should temper their expectations. We would welcome a part that gives her more to do than attend another briefing.