The Fire Inside TIFF Review — Well-Acted Sports Drama Doesn’t Achieve the Gold Medal

2024 has not just one but two films by Barry Jenkins in store for cinephiles. In addition to the Lion King prequel, Mufasa, which will be released this December, he has written The Fire Inside, a true story boxing drama. Unfortunately, despite the film’s enormous potential in its premise and the talent of its cast, The Fire Inside ends up being extremely underwhelming, doing little to deviate from the comfort of its formula.

The Fire Inside Review

The Fire Inside tells the true story of Olympic boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, who overcame the odds to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games despite a humble background in a low-income community. Those hoping that Jenkins would take this familiar formula and spin it on its head will be sorely disappointed, as this sports drama is the very definition of formulaic.

One of the principal issues with The Fire Inside is that it is structured in an incredibly anticlimactic way. The film’s conflict is set up as if it will climax with Shields’s bid at the Olympics. However, this event happens about two-thirds of the way through the film. The other 45 minutes are spent exploring the aftermath of her Olympic appearance and her continued socioeconomic struggles despite her newfound fame.

Although these social issues are compelling, and Jenkins seems like the filmmaker who would be able to pull this off, the script for The Fire Inside is unable to balance these deeper aspects with its more conventional, crowd-pleasing underdog story beats. The film’s setting of Flint, Michigan, has long been a hotbed for socioeconomic strife (although this takes place before the water crisis, which was a symptom of the underlying problems that plagued the people of the small town.

Image Courtesy of TIFF

Ultimately, The Fire Inside ends up feeling like two movies slapped together into one. While either of these films could have been great with a bit more development, the attempt to have its cake and eat it too is futile and causes it to feel frustrating more often than it is inspiring or provocative.

Still, even though the film doesn’t use her story to make a potentially important point, Shields makes for a compelling protagonist. Of course, it will always be easy for American viewers to root for the American athlete in an international competition like the Olympics. When you add in the rags-to-riches element, it only makes the story even more crowd-friendly.

The best part of the film is, unquestionably, its cast. Brian Tyree Henry is excellent in his role despite playing a very conventional coach/father figure. The sincerity of his delivery elevates dialogue that otherwise falls victim to the traditional heartstring-pulling sports beats. Ryan Destiny also shows a ton of star-making breakout potential in her debut as the central subject.

The Fire Inside also marks the debut of cinematographer Rachel Morrison (a frequent Jenkins collaborator) in the director’s chair. In the slower scenes of the film, like when the characters are having conversations with one another, the visuals are strong, if not spectacularly flashy. Sadly, this impressive visual style does not extend to the boxing sequences, which are a fundamental part of a sports movie like this. These scenes are shot in a conventional, unexciting way that fails to create the stakes and investment that are so necessary for a film like this to succeed.

Is The Fire Inside worth watching?

The Fire Inside isn’t a poorly made film — just a conventional, straightforward underdog story that had the potential to explore some powerful, interesting themes but fails to do so in sufficient depth. It’s charming, but considering the talent involved in front of and behind the camera, it’s still a massive disappointment.

The Fire Inside screened at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 5-14.

Written by Sean Boelman

Articles Published: 211

Sean is a film critic, filmmaker, and life-long cinephile. For as long as he can remember, he has always loved film, but he credits the film Pan's Labyrinth as having started his love of film as art. Sean enjoys watching many types of films, although some personal favorite genres include music documentaries, heist movies, and experimental horror.