Were one to ignore the courtroom-set events over the past handful of years that have served to define the personal life of Amber Heard, it would be hard to deny the fact that, despite a few run-of-the-mill performances, most notably as Mera in her various Snyderverse appearances such as “Aquaman, “the ex-Mrs. Johnny Depp has a decent level of talent onscreen, ranging from the horror of “All The Boys Love Mandy Lane” to the comedy of “Pineapple Express” to the sultry drama of “Magic Mike XXL.” “In The Fire” could be considered another example of her potential, an imperfect lead role in a film that brazenly emulates a type of film seen countless times since “The Exorcist” spawned countless imitators in the half-century since.
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In an unusual twist, comparisons to her former husband’s character, small-town setting and various supernatural plot elements of his 1999 ghostfest “Sleepy Hollow” can’t be ignored; set in the late 1800s, Grace Burnham (Heard) is a doctor conscripted by farmer Nicolas Marquez (Eduardo Noriega) to investigate/treat his young son Martin (Lorenzo McGovern Zaini) who may possess otherworldly skills not of a benign nature. Unfortunately, the townsfolk have just about had it with the child, who they believe to be the cause of various unexplained tragedies that have befallen the area, and a priest, Antonio (Luca Calvani), has decided it’s the Devil at work. However, the Marquez family and Burnham have Gavira (Yari Gugliucci), a more sympathetic man of God, in their corner; it might not be enough to keep the angry mob at bay nor prevent the disbelieving Burnham from realizing that what she’s so long denied may in fact be real.
Though it’d be tricky to consider Martin and the Headless Horseman twins, there’s some undeniably shared DNA between this and “Sleepy Hollow,” and to see Heard’s frilly period outfit, repeated affirmations of her skeptical nature, and the atmospheric vibe of the town that sits in a pseudo-Six Degrees Of Tim Burton-esque realm all result in a strangely, presumably unintentional, comparison to the Depp classic. Even without these bizarre characteristics, “In The Fire” still owes a tremendous debt to an endless slew of clones with nearly the exact same premise: a dartboard with titles ranging from “The Omen” to “The Bad Seed” and more that can’t even begin to be listed is something that comes to mind when director Conor Allyn was trying to determine what type of film would be a suitable follow-up to his 2021 effort “No Man’s Land. “That all said, labeling it a poor effort for any of these reasons would ultimately be unfair, as the cast doesn’t appear to be sleeping on the dedication to their roles, and the overall flow maintains a steady rhythm throughout that, at most, keeps things from being rendered a copycat bore as the credits roll.
Sure, Heard may struggle with conveying the skepticism her character maintains through a good portion of the film, coming off as slightly amateurish in her delivery, but her chemistry with Martin works well enough; as Martin, meanwhile, Lorenzo McGoven Zaini appears to have been cast mainly on his ability to stare off into space menacingly, but there’s a decent amount of contrast to this menace that begins to present the question of his motivations. It’s clear he has some abilities, but is he really the monster those outside his home have made him out to be? Completing the trio would be Noriega, holding his own the best he can as Martin’s embattled father who gets a shoehorned, intimate relationship with Heard around the film’s midpoint; no one here can be faulted for trying, but it’s far from memorable.
This is the film’s biggest failure, with every plot point, beat, and halfhearted attempt to find some semblance of originality seemingly plagiarized from the titles mentioned, along with many more. Heard’s interactions with any of the adult figures, the townspeople storming Marquez’s plantation in furious rage, Martin’s onscreen presence overall…even were one to have never seen a film that cast an influence on “In The Fire,” it still can’t shake that feeling of having been here before. It’s not unwatchable, not by any means, but were one to step back and take in the film as a whole; this is just another movie, destined to find a place buried within the recesses of a streaming service where its destiny lies in acting as a film that future replicas will see as one more imitator. Plus, for a movie about a sinister child unintentionally terrorizing a small town, it lacks any real suspense, though the occasional Italian subtitles never feel distracting.
This is as middle-of-the-road as it gets, something no one will remember minutes after it wraps and, for this reason, will likely prompt very few to express anything overwhelmingly negative or the opposite. What the years to come hold in store for Heard as she returns to acting remains to be seen, but it’s doubtful that “In The Fire” will have any meaningful impact on her career whatsoever; her chops seem ready for more, as do the rest of the cast, and it’s possible Allyn’s next might improve on this enormously ordinary effort. Let’s hope, for the sake of all involved, that this ends up true, as there’s far too much talent here to be wasted on something like this. [C]