A new Netflix series from Colombia takes one of the country’s darkest historical events and turns it into a story about friendship, ideas, and memory. Fugue State 1986, which started streaming on December 4, 2025, is inspired by a real mass killing that shocked Bogotá in 1986. The show does not just replay the crime. Instead, it imagines the months leading up to it, focusing on the dangerous bond between two men . All seven episodes of the limited series are available now on Netflix .
The True Crime That Inspired the Series
The story is based on the Pozzetto massacre, which happened on December 4, 1986. A man named Campo Elías Delgado, a 52-year-old who claimed to be a Vietnam War veteran, killed 29 people in a single day . The violence began in his apartment building, where he murdered his mother and several neighbors . He then went to a student’s home, killing her and her mother, before ending his rampage at the Pozzetto, a popular Italian restaurant in Bogotá’s Chapinero district . There, after calmly eating a meal, he opened fire on diners . Delgado died at the scene, though it is unclear whether he was killed by police or took his own life .
The case left deep scars, and many official records were later lost or sealed, leaving unanswered questions . This historical gap is where Fugue State 1986 begins its fictional story, exploring the psychology behind the violence rather than just documenting the events .
From Real Killer to Fictional Character
In the series, the real-life Campo Elías Delgado becomes a fictional character named Jeremías Salgado, played by Colombian actor Andrés Parra. Like Delgado, Jeremías is a lonely, older man and a former soldier . The show imagines his life in the four months before the massacre, focusing on his growing friendship with a young literature student named Camilo León (José Restrepo) .
This friendship is the core of the series. Camilo is drawn to Jeremías’s intense personality and his deep knowledge of books and philosophy . Their conversations start with literature but slowly turn toward darker themes of violence, justice, and death . The show suggests that this relationship may have somehow pulled Camilo into Jeremías’s disturbing world, even if Camilo does not remember how .
“We knew we didn’t want to narrate it from the perspective of the perpetrator of the massacre, but rather through someone who had known him,” said writer Ana María Parra .
The title, Fugue State, refers to a psychological condition where a person loses their memory or sense of identity . This concept applies not just to Jeremías’s state of mind but also to Camilo, who wakes up after the massacre with no memory of the crucial days leading up to it . An investigator, Indira Quinchía (Carolina Gómez), then confronts him with evidence linking him to the crime .
Building a Story on a Foundation of Fact and Fiction
The creators of the show worked hard to balance the true history with their fictional narrative. The project was supervised by Colombian author Mario Mendoza, who had a personal connection to the case—he attended the same university as the real Campo Elías Delgado .
“It was very important for us to keep one aspect of the real-life person and transfer it to the fictional character: his loneliness, his isolation, his spiritual exile,” said Mendoza .
The show is accurate in its major framework: the date, the location of the final restaurant shooting, and the killer’s background as a troubled veteran . However, the characters of Camilo and Jeremías, and the details of their friendship, are creations of the writers . They used this fictional relationship to explore themes of influence, isolation, and how dangerous ideas can spread from one person to another .
The production also aimed for historical authenticity in its look and feel. The series was filmed on location in Bogotá, using streets and neighborhoods that recreate the city’s atmosphere in the 1980s . This was a turbulent time in Colombia, marked by political violence, including the 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice . The show weaves this tense social environment into the story, suggesting it shaped the characters’ mindsets .
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A Cast Bringing a Dark Story to Life
The series features a strong cast of Colombian actors. Andrés Parra’s performance as the complex and menacing Jeremías has been noted as particularly powerful . He is joined by José Restrepo as the confused student Camilo and Carolina Gómez as the determined investigator Indira .
Other cast members include Jorge Enrique Abello, Camila Jurado, and Consuelo Luzardo. The directors are Carlos Moreno and Claudia Pedraza. The series is presented in Spanish with subtitles available for global audiences on Netflix .
The Chilling Message of “I Am That Rain”
A haunting line from the show’s promotion has captured attention. In a scene, Jeremías asks a waiter if he has seen the film Taxi Driver and then recites a twisted version of a famous line: “I am that rain. A real rain will clean the streets of scum.” He says this just before drawing his weapon in the restaurant . This moment chillingly reflects the character’s fractured mind and his violent desire to purge the world of what he sees as corruption.
Fugue State 1986 is now streaming on Netflix. The show carries a TV-MA rating for its strong violence, disturbing content, and mature themes .
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