This solid biopic of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (Ryan Destiny), who overcame systemic sexism in the sports world and a challenging, impoverished childhood in Flint, Michigan to become, in 2012, the first US female boxer to earn Olympic gold, doesn’t break much in the way of new ground. But The Fire Inside, which was scripted by Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and directed by cinematographer turned first-time feature film-maker Rachel Morrison, understands that, with storytelling as with fighting, sometimes all you need to do is stand firm and land the punches.
Largely thanks to the raw intensity of Destiny’s central performance, and to the focus on community as much as individual triumph, the film does exactly that. Not surprisingly, given Morrison’s background (she was Oscar-nominated for her camerawork on Mudbound, and also shot Fruitvale Station and Black Panther), the film is strikingly photographed by Rina Yang – a wintry palette of frostbitten Michigan greys and blues that’s a neat contrast to the heat of Shields’s ambition and anger.
In UK and Irish cinemas
