Conor Allyn’s “gaucho supernatural Western” opens Oct. 13 in theatrical and digital release.
Writer-director Conor Allyn (No Man’s Land) describes his latest movie, In the Fire, as “a gaucho supernatural Western.” After seeing the trailer unveiled Wednesday by Saban Films, which will release Allyn’s period drama Oct. 13 in theaters and on digital platforms, we figure that’s a fair assessment.
Amber Heard stars as Grace Burnham, a New York doctor who journeys to a remote plantation during the 1890s to care for a disturbed boy evidently gifted — or cursed — with inexplicable abilities. Her efforts to treat the child immediately place her in conflict with the local priest, who believes the boy is demonically possessed and responsible for all the village’s woes.
When interviewed prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Amber Heard said of In the Fire: “The film is a meditation on the almost supernatural powers of love, told through a strong-willed and independent woman at the turn of the 20th century. I feel honored to be part of this labor of love and to be the lead in Conor Allyn’s vision. I feel lucky to be surrounded by such an amazing cast. They’re as dedicated and magical as the characters they play.”
“In The Fire is a period piece that reflects our contemporary world,” Allyn added, “often reminding us of uncomfortable truths about how little society, and the people in it, have changed in the past century. Our modern world is increasingly dominated by absolutes. In The Fire lives in the gray area. It’s a story about how we react when faced with fear — fear of the other, fear of the unknown, and the fear we keep hidden inside ourselves.
“The film pits trust in science versus faith in religion, posing the possibility that perhaps neither is wholly right or wrong. Even with all we know, or think we know, there is still a vast unknown. Remarkable notions that inspire textbooks and bibles. Ideas that institutional religion tries to justify and science struggles to explain, like love. In [In the Fire], love has a supernatural power. A magical quality that can bond or can kill. That can inspire terrifying pain or dazzling human connection.”