In 1991, 23-year-old Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell) wakes to the sound of crying. A trial ensues; Willingham’s shambolic public defender is neither able to save him from a conviction nor the death penalty. Seven years later, an unlikely set of circumstances brings playwright Elizabeth Gilbert (Dern) into Willingham’s life. It’s in Trial by Fire’s final stretch when it finally manages to distinguish itself from so many similar films of its ilk. But there’s a prescience to his motivation here, an urgent messaging embedded in the film that also makes it feel deeply necessary.

Source: The Guardian May 14, 2019 07:52 UTC