# The Fire Inside (film)

The Fire Inside is a 2024 American biographical sports film by Rachel Morrison in her feature directorial debut. The film is about the early boxing career of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, a fighter from Flint, Michigan, including her competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ryan Destiny stars as the lead, alongside Brian Tyree Henry and Adam Clark.
Originally titled Flint Strong during development, The Fire Inside premiered in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2024, and was released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on December 25, 2024 to positive reviews but was a box office bomb, grossing only $8.1 million on a $12 million budget.

## Cast

* Ryan Destiny as Claressa "T-Rex" Shields
* Brian Tyree Henry as Jason Crutchfield
* Oluniké Adeliyi as Jackie Shields
* De'Adre Aziza as Mickey
* Adam Clark as Clarence

## Production

The Fire Inside had a lengthy development and production history, including encountering multiple delays along the way.
On October 7, 2016, Universal Pictures hired Barry Jenkins to adapt the 2015 documentary T-Rex, about boxer Claressa Shields, for the big screen, with the possibility to direct the new film. On June 19, 2019, Rachel Morrison was set to make her directorial debut on the film, which was to be titled Flint Strong; Jenkins would produce with Michael De Luca and Elishia Holmes, while Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, who worked on T-Rex, would serve as executive producers.
On November 13, 2019, Ryan Destiny was cast as Claressa "T-Rex" Shields. On February 5, 2020, Ice Cube was cast as Shields' coach, Jason Crutchfield. Judy Greer was added on May 14 but for unknown reasons did not appear in the film. However, on October 29, 2021, it was reported that Cube had left the project after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19 to film Oh Hell No (later titled Stepdude) for Columbia Pictures, putting the film in turnaround.
Principal photography began at Cinespace Film Studios in Toronto on March 11, 2020, but on March 13, production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with The Guardian, Shields stated that production on Flint Strong was set to resume in June 2021. However, the project entered another long delay due to being offloaded by Universal. It would be picked up by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and on May 25, 2022, Brian Tyree Henry joined the cast to replace Ice Cube, and Oluniké Adeliyi joined to play Shields' mother, with filming resuming later that month. On July 6, 2022, De'Adre Aziza joined the cast as Mickey, Crutchfield's wife. In July 2022, filming took place in Hamilton, Ontario, where the FirstOntario Centre was used as an Olympic boxing venue. In March 2024, it was announced that the project had been renamed from Flint Strong to The Fire Inside, which ultimately would be the final title that the film was released under.

### Music

Tamar-kali composed the score for The Fire Inside, which was released on December 25, 2024, through Lakeshore Records, with "Build Up to Olympic Final / Final Round" released one day earlier. Tamar-kali used a combination of "strings, percussion, modern electronic sounds and brass" in scoring the film.
All tracks are written by Tamar-kali.

## Release

In July 2024, The Fire Inside was announced as part of the Special Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival scheduled for September 7, 2024. The film was theatrically released on December 25, 2024.

## Reception
### Box office

In the United States and Canada, The Fire Inside was released alongside Nosferatu, Babygirl, and A Complete Unknown, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,006 theaters in its five-day opening weekend. The film made $1.6 million on its first day and went on to debut to $2 million in its opening weekend (and a total of $4.3 million over the five days), finishing in 10th. It made $1.2 million in its second weekend.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 103 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Equal measures inspiring, and enraging, this typical sports drama knows how to take a hit and dole them out with enough emotion and vigor to stoke The Fire Inside." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it a 86% overall positive score, with 62% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.

### Accolades

| Award | Ceremony date | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| Black Reel Awards | February 10, 2025 | Outstanding Lead Performance | Ryan Destiny | Nominated |
| Black Reel Awards | February 10, 2025 | Outstanding Breakthrough Performance | Ryan Destiny | Nominated |
| Black Reel Awards | February 10, 2025 | Outstanding Supporting Performance | Brian Tyree Henry | Nominated |
| Black Reel Awards | February 10, 2025 | Outstanding Screenplay | Barry Jenkins | Nominated |
| Black Reel Awards | February 10, 2025 | Outstanding Score | Tamar-kali | Nominated |
| Camerimage | November 23, 2024 | Golden Frog for Best Cinematography | Rina Yang | Nominated |
| Celebration of Cinema and Television | December 9, 2024 | Rising Star Award – Film | Ryan Destiny | Won |
| Denver International Film Festival | November 10, 2024 | Rising Star Award | Ryan Destiny | Won |
| Gotham Awards | December 2, 2024 | Outstanding Supporting Performance | Brian Tyree Henry | Nominated |
| Gotham Awards | December 2, 2024 | Breakthrough Performer | Ryan Destiny | Nominated |
| Indie Spirit Awards | February 22, 2025 | Best Lead Performance | Ryan Destiny | Nominated |
| Indie Spirit Awards | February 22, 2025 | Best Cinematography | Rina Yang | Nominated |
| Michigan Movie Critics Guild | December 9, 2024 | Award For Film Excellence | Ryan Destiny | Won |
| NAACP Image Awards | February 22, 2025 | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture | Brian Tyree Henry | Nominated |
| NAACP Image Awards | February 22, 2025 | Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture | Ryan Destiny | Nominated |
| NAACP Image Awards | February 22, 2025 | Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture | Barry Jenkins | Nominated |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | December 6, 2024 | Best First Feature - Director | Rachel Morrison | Nominated |