A doctor travels to a remote plantation to care for a disturbed boy who has inexplicable abilities. She ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is... Read allA doctor travels to a remote plantation to care for a disturbed boy who has inexplicable abilities. She ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil.A doctor travels to a remote plantation to care for a disturbed boy who has inexplicable abilities. She ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil.
- Awards
- 1 win & 5 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIt had its world premiere at the Taormina Film Festival on 24 June 2023, and was released in the United States on 13 October 2023, by Saban Films.
- Quotes
Grace Burnham: Those people are scared. And they need something to blame for that fear and it's you, because you're different.
At its center, 'In the Fire' is a story about love, human connection, and the struggle to belong and be accepted in a world in which bigotry (xenophobia, sexism, witch-burning) is the rule rather than the exception. It is also a story about how reductive and destructive dualisms such as religion/science or even disease/talent can be in the face of a more complex world that does not readily lend itself to such oversimplifications, especially in cases where human lives and wellbeing are at stake. And both these very human stories are told through the vehicle of a psychological/supernatural gothic thriller that, in many respects, defies the narratives and clichés typical of both the psychological and supernatural thriller genres. This is one of the aspects of the film that I love the most and is evident in how, despite paying subtle nods to some films in these genres, Conor Allyn purposely subverts the formulas and devices they employ in interesting and thought-provoking ways.
Interwoven into the film's central stories are important philosophical questions evoked by, and to some extent addressed within, the film's plot. For instance, the question of human suffering in light of the assumption that the world is overseen by an omnibenevolent and omnipotent creator ("God") is raised in the film, and the lack of a rational answer to this question is made a key feature of the villagers' fear of, and anger towards, Martin (Lorenzo McGovern Zaini). Similarly, the movie tackles the question of whether or not religion and science could co-exist and plausibly invites both religious and non-religious viewers - through Father Antonio (Luca Calvani) and Grace Burnham (Amber Heard) respectively - to reflect on the extent to which they would be willing to bend their own prior beliefs when confronted with a phenomenon that grossly violates them.
Additionally, something has to be said in terms of a complement to the writers (Conor Allyn, Pascal Borno, Silvio Muraglia) and the director (Conor Allyn) regarding how delicately and skillfully they carry the film's central mystery right down to literally the last five minutes of the movie. The film follows Grace Burnham as the very rare 19th century woman alienist (a pre-20th century term for a psychiatrist) that travels to a remote village to attend to the treatment of Martin Marquez - a boy exhibiting atypical behaviors - at the behest of Martin's mother. Once at the village, Grace discovers that in order to treat and care for Martin, she has to contend with the protestations of most of the villagers - led by a Father Gavira (Yari Gugliucci) - who are convinced that Martin's atypical behaviors underlie the misfortunes that have been plaguing the village ever since he was born because, according to them, the boy is possessed. Thus is the mystery at the center of the movie: Is Martin actually possessed or does he, as Grace maintains, merely contain an illness (mental disorders were notoriously pathologized in the 19th century) by the name of Savante Syndrome? The writers and director, aided by Amber Heard's skillful acting, do a great job holding onto this mystery until that point in the movie when it is most rewarding to give it away. And, without giving away any spoilers, I assure you that you likely will not be expecting how the mystery is resolved.
Speaking of Heard's acting, as something of an enthusiast and critical follower of her filmography, I have to say a thing or two about it. For one, anyone familiar with Heard's previous horror and thriller performances will see influences in her acting here from such horror/thriller classics as The Ward (2010) and And Soon the Darkness (2010). On the other hand, 'In the Fire' adds to the evidence for Heard's versatility as an actress because she's never starred in such a period film before (and in as authoritative and scholarly a position as a doctor) yet she nails Grace Burnham's character so well that even most of the negative critics of the movie begrudgingly accept that her performance cannot be faulted. In perhaps no scenes is this skillful performance as evident as in some of the private moments Grace shares with Martin and in the scene in which Grace confronts Father Gavira in front of the church (which leads to events that many viewers would not be comfortable watching). In all, while Heard does display some of her signature elements of performance in this movie, she exhibits a maturity and growth of skill that, in my opinion, should easily market her for similar and not-so-similar roles in future that would, if she's given the chance, land her an Oscar someday. Besides Amber Heard moreover, the other performers in the movie also do the best job they could do for their characters, especially Luca Calvani, Eduardo Noriega (Nicolas Marquez), and Lorenzo McGovern Zaini.
I feel like I cannot conclude this review without singling out the film's makeups (thanks to Helena Rago and crew) for an authenticity that elevates its appearance to that of a big-budget production. I cannot even imagine the work they put in to achieve this look.
The only faults that I could point out with the film lie with its editing (which seems a bit choppy in some scenes) and with the writing of the some of the dialogues (which do not strictly adhere to the 19th century setting). Nonetheless, these are faults that are more than covered by the film's positives and by the fact that the film is low-budget, but I had to remove at least one star from it because of them.
In conclusion, 'In the Fire' is as solid an indie movie of its genre as you can get. I highly recommend it to most people, both horror and thriller lovers and non-lovers alike. This is because while the film does use thrill largely for entertainment value, its underlying stories and themes are drama-based and would thus appeal to those that aren't so much into thrillers. I also specifically recommend the movie to the more philosophically inclined audiences that love their their entertainment smart rather than intellectually empty. Fans of Amber Heard will also have a lot to enjoy in this movie and will no doubt re-watch it multiple times as they wait for her next appearance in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom later this year. In all, I cannot recommend enough that the interested reader give this genre-defying movie at least one viewing as I am confident that they will find the experience worthwhile and memorable.
- dani_fz
- Oct 21, 2023
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Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $22,299
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1