Director Leonel Vieira on Hit HBO Max Thriller ‘The Scream,’ on Building Suspense and Finance and Working the Portugal-Spain Axis (EXCLUSIVE)

Portuguese suspense thriller series “The Scream” (“O Grito”), directed and produced by Leonel Vieira, has quickly become one of the key calling cards of Portugal’s fast-evolving drama scene. 

Produced by Lisbon-based Volf Entertainment in co-production with public broadcaster RTP, the eight-part, 45-minute drama bowed this fall on HBO Max in Portugal and Spain, where it has ranked consistently among the service’s most-watched local titles. It now rolls out from Dec. 8 on free-to-air TV on RTP1 and RTP Play, airing in a weekly primetime slot. 

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Set in the contemporary Portuguese education system, “The Scream” hinges on the suicide of Vitória Neves (Daniela Ruah), a committed high-school teacher who sacrifices her personal life to hold together her students, colleagues and family. 

Unable to accept that her sister has taken her own life, Sofia (Sara Matos), a London-based visual artist, returns home and retraces Vitória’s final months, uncovering emotional fault lines at home and at school. 

The series unfolds across two timelines — Sofia’s present-day investigation and flashbacks to Vitória’s life and impact on those around her — using suspense and mystery to probe mental health, burnout and the hidden cost of public service. 

In tone, the show plays as an emotional thriller rather than resort to pure social realism. Its narrative design leans heavily on cliffhangers, withheld information and shifting points of view, pulling viewers through the episodes as Sofia gradually pieces together what really drove Vitória beyond the brink. 

While the subject matter is sensitive — suicide, depression, institutional pressure — “O Grito” deliberately avoids a somber, punishing register, opting instead for a dynamic visual style, frequent sunlit scenes and a character-driven approach designed to spark mainstream reflection and conversation around schools and teachers in crisis. 

For Vieira, one of Portugal’s most commercially successful director-producers, the series marks another step in a long-game to fuse popular storytelling with internationally viable production values. He broke box office records with his 2015 remake of classic comedy “O Pátio das Cantigas,” part of a “Novos Clássicos” trilogy, which ranks among the country’s all-time local hits and cemented his reputation as a crowd-pleasing stylist. 

As a producer and director, he has delivered nearly 40 features and TV projects, often working in cross-border structures with Brazil, Spain, France and the U.S., and collecting festival selections and awards along the way. 

Recent credits range from RTP period drama “The Crime of Father Amaro” — winner of best TV series and pilot at the 2023 Buenos Aires International Film Festival — to Brazilian-shot thriller “The Last Animal” and the coffee-magnate biopic “Sr. Rui,” which topped Prime Video’s local ranking.

Backed by an entertainment-focused investment fund managed by Quadrantis Capital, Volf Entertainment has quickly positioned itself as a high-output banner targeting both domestic and international markets. Beyond “The Scream,” its 2025 slate includes theatrical hit “O Pátio da Saudade,” which opened strongly in Portuguese cinemas, and the HBO Max-RTP thriller “Favàritx,” while the company is already developing a new thriller with Spain’s Nadie Es Perfecto for SkyShowtime Spain, with Vieira attached as showrunner, co-writer and director.  

Fresh off dual wins for best TV series and best director at Buenos Aires International Film Festival, “The Scream” is now being positioned for further international distribution as Volf leans into an emerging Portugal–Spain drama axis.

Vieira fielded questions from Variety as the series is set to roll out on RTP:

Suspense keeps viewers coming back. If it’s suspense around what a character for which the audience feels a large empathy and also investigates their death, even more so – which seems key to “The Scream” – allowing you to dig deep into human nature. But do you agree?

Yes, I completely agree. In the series, suspense arises directly from the characters’ internal conflicts. I wanted the viewer to feel at every moment that something was about to happen – that subtle uneasiness that something is not quite right, without knowing exactly what. We worked with silences, small decisions and glances that don’t reveal the character’s next move, emphasizing the complexity of their feelings and deepening the mystery that surrounds them.

One of the most interesting aspects of “The Scream” is its use of time. You open in 2008 and, after two scenes, jump a decade. Episode 1 ends on a cliffhanger; Episode 2 starts, however, with son Pedro as a child, even if it’s a nightmare. What were you looking for with those time jumps?

This structure was defined with the writers during development. We opted for a non-linear construction that allows the viewer to piece together the puzzle across the episodes and forces them to follow the different timelines more closely. I believe this approach increases curiosity and also contributes to suspense.

In Episode 2, the series begins to explore the use — and abuse — of authority, both in education and in the family. Does this become one of the core themes of the show?

More than just a theme, authoritarianism emerges as another facet of complex human behavior. In the case of the school principal, her authoritarianism is a pretext to better understand her insecurities, fears and frustrations. We were very interested in exploring the motivations behind human behavior, not just labelling characters as “good” or “bad.”

How did RTP and HBO Max each come on board in terms of commissioning, co-production commitments and the way domestic and international rights were structured?

HBO Max read the scripts and believed in the project from the outset, acquiring SVOD rights for Portugal and Spain. RTP has been my main partner in Portugal in developing series and films, involved in practically all my productions. As a public television station, it has shown great interest in collaborating with platforms in co-financing projects and sharing windows, so it acquired free TV rights for Portugal. Volf also received financial support from Portugal’s cash rebate (Pic Portugal) and funding from the Oeiras City Council, where the entire series was filmed, which is why international marketing rights belong to Volf. International distributors have already expressed interest, and we are currently analyzing those opportunities. 

Volf Entertainment is backed by the Quadrantis Capital fund, which suggests a clear growth and scalability mandate. How is that financial structure shaping Volf’s international ambitions?

The fact that Volf Entertainment is integrated into an investment fund gives us financial stability and a strong capacity for project development, which we’ve been doing over the last two years. With the new projects and partnerships we’re establishing, we believe that, in the medium term, we can consolidate Volf as a content producer with a clear international vocation. 

Casting Daniela Ruah, widely recognized internationally for “NCIS: Los Angeles,” opposite Sara Matos as Vitória and Sofia Neves gives “The Scream” both local star power and a global-friendly face. From a creative and strategic standpoint, what were you looking for in this pairing?

Sara Matos guarantees huge artistic quality and a strong impact on the Portuguese audience. The choice of Daniela Ruah allowed us to have a Portuguese actress who is also of great quality but with major international recognition, which gives the project greater visibility both in Spain and the rest of the world. The chemistry between them as sisters is essential — emotionally it grounds the series. 

From a producer’s standpoint, what key performance indicators will you be watching on “The Scream” — HBO Max viewing data, RTP linear ratings, social conversation — and how might those results shape your next high-end drama with both a streamer and a free-to-air broadcaster?

We don’t have access to the platform’s internal data, but feedback from HBO Max has been very positive. During the eight weeks of rollout, “O Grito” was consistently in the Top 5 in Portugal, and in Spain, Filmaffinity highlighted it for weeks as a must-see HBO Max title. The series will only premiere on RTP in December. I can say that the good performance of “O Grito” is already opening financing possibilities for new projects — I’ll have more news soon. 

We’re seeing clear growth in TV drama co-productions between Portugal and Spain, at both broadcaster and streamer level. From your perspective at Volf, what are the most promising models for this Iberian axis and what kinds of stories work best as genuine Portugal–Spain co-productions?

Everything starts in script development. Stories must be organic and incorporate themes and characters that relate to both countries from the outset. Only then are they interesting as real co-productions. Some are already being made and I think there’s a good path ahead. Everyone gains: we increase project funding and expand potential audiences. Iberian production has turned its back on itself for many years; I believe the tide is turning and we need to raise the level and quality of co-productions and multiply partnership projects. It’s a real growth opportunity for both Portuguese and Spanish producers.