In the Fire

'Into the fire' had an interesing premis, was very visually engaging, and the acting was good. The plot moved a little slowly, but it became more enjoyable as the film went on. I think some aspects of the plot could have been explored a little more effectively within the run time. The 3 main characters were all fairly well developed, though I do feel that they lacked unique character traits, and there were interesting aspects of each character that were never addressed, especially with the doctor. I think more character work would have really improved the film overall, as I sometimes struggled to follow what each character was actually motivated by.

I honestly had to Try not to nod off in my chair while watching "In The Fire". The Writers own this flat plot, it had more potential. The characters seemed almost transparent, but not for bad acting rather not much to work with in dialog. Actor Lorenzo McGovern Zaini is the only one who delivered anything memorable to this film. Amber Heard will always be a "so-so" kind of "Okay" supporting actor, but leading actor is beyond her acting skill-set. It just simply isn't enough to have a pretty face you have to deliver in a Lead Role. No Excuses! Amber is always the same character in a different role, but always Amber Heard.

The closest movie I can compare this to is 2022's The Wonder. In that story Florence Pugh plays a modernist Nurse at the turn of the 20th century who travels to rural Ireland to deal with a psychologically traumatized girl who the locals believe may be having religious visions. Here we get Amber Heard playing an 'Alienist' who travels to turn of the 20th century South America to deal with a strange boy who the rural locals believe may be evil incarnate. Seeing the low rating of this movie I was expecting Heard's performance to be as bad as her London Fields role, or Mera in Aquaman. She actually acquits herself well as Grace Burnham in In The Fire. Playing a modern woman confronted with backward ways, I felt she was more successful than Pugh had been in an almost identical role. Both films rely on atmospherics and dark and somber landscapes to build mood, isolation and a sense of despair over the story. Both films have somewhat similar endings too. The Wonder wraps up too neatly, In The Fire just ends with us wondering what this was all about. And that is the problem of this movie. The story's protagonist is a Woman fighting the conventions of her time. At the end, after basically getting her butt kicked, we're left unsure. Did she learn something? And if she did, the ending seems to be leading her down a bad path. Lorenzo McGovern Zaini plays the boy, Martin. We don't know if he is the kid from the Omen, or she has identified his psychological disorder correctly, but he apparently has dangerous paranormal powers. And he is not that great in the role. They give him one giant blue eye to make him look weird and right before he channels his demonic abilities, he gets geeked out. He looks too weird to have sympathy for him, and at no point does he come across as giving a crap about anyone in the story, particularly Grace, who is fighting everyone to let her help him as she starts noticing...damn this kid seems to be using magic powers. Who she is supposed to be just doesn't line up with what is going and on it doesn't make much sense. . Neither does her relationship with the boy's father. At first he dislikes her. Then she wants them all to eat dinner 'like a family'. Then they have an obligatory sex scene. But no chemistry, no connection. More like the director wanted a sex scene in the movie, because it is Amber Heard. So we have the modern woman of science fighting everyone as things escalate. Finally everything blows up. And at the end, we can't tell if this was supposed to be a horror movie or not. The story should have gone one way or the other, and her actions at the end don't seem to align with what is going on.

An uninspiring story told with an underwhelming style from one dimensional actors and actresses with zero chemistry doomed this film. The costumes along with the attempts acting and filming style were a constant reminder I was watching a film. There will be zealots for a certain actress in this film but hopefully this travesty of both sound and vision will make them realise they wasting time and money on a lost cause. Box office revenue isn't always an indication of a films worth but judging by the real reviews and the global box office revenues, we can now say some times it can be spot on.

At first it may look like a typical demonic child story, but this movie is much more than this. It offers both paranormal and scientific explanation of the events and the ambiguous ending lets you decide how to interpret them. Mysterious atmosphere got me excited in the first minutes and although there isn't much action going on, I was never bored. The movie brings up some important topics that are still relevant today - danger of religious fanaticism, mob mentality and a fear of things we don't understand. The cast is really good. Amber Heard is fantastic in this role and Lorenzo McGovern Zaini is definitely very promising young actor. Operator's work deserves special appreciation - the cinematography is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.