Starring: Amber Heard, Eduardo Noriega, Lorenzo McGovern Zaini
Directed by: Conor Allyn
Right off the rip, I’m going to do my best to keep my comments about Amber Heard to myself, as by now we’ve all heard everything there possibly is to be heard regarding her s**tty behavior in the past. Now that little nugget has past, let’s dive into her latest film (which she also executively-produced) titled IN THE FIRE, and in the days where everyone outside of Santa Claus wants to tackle the topic of demonic possession, we’re staring into the horribly blank face of yet another one. Make yourselves comfortable while I sharpen my dissecting tools for this DOA case.
Set in the 1890’s, the film follows Dr. Grace Burnham (Heard) as she makes the trek from New York to a faraway plantation to provide care for a young boy (Zaini) who has begun to show some rather inexplicable powers despite being slightly unbalanced. The small village he resides in has been suffering as a result of the youngling’s actions, and Burnham is called upon to hopefully remedy the situation with the assistance of a local priest (Noriega). As the movie sludges along, it becomes apparent that the devil isn’t going away without one hell of a fight, and some casualties to boot. Sadly, it’s not the full-on middling performance put forth by Heard that acts as the film’s damning blow, but the way that the rest of the presentation is spilled out all over the screen. Her character simply isn’t likeable in any fashion and it looked like the remainder of the cast also followed suit.
Faced with a science vs. religion narrative which is enough to smack anyone to sleep (unless that’s your thing), the pace in this film is so regrettably tepid (bordering on all out turtle-velocity), and along with the “what have you done differently” aspect when it comes to possession-display…this movie is truly a BEEN THERE-DONE THAT kind of watch. It currently is available on streaming services if you’re having a hard night’s sleep and don’t want to rely on any pharmaceutical assistance, but if I can offer this one caveat before watching: if Ms. Heard is involved, you might want to check the sheets before you hop in the sack for a night’s rest.
