Trial by Fire

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Edward Zwick directs. John Guleserian behind the camera. Henry Jackman scores. Steven Rosenblum cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 7 years ago.
• 2Directed by Edward Zwick, shot by John Guleserian. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Henry Jackman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Steven Rosenblum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Jack O'Connell and Laura Dern and Emily Meade carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Stand for what's right. Fight for what's true.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt3263946 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Classified under 8 themes, including "falsely accused", "texas", "biography", "based on true story".

The technical file

Cinematography

John Guleserian

Original score

Henry Jackman

Editing

Steven Rosenblum

Production design

Clay A. Griffith

Costume design

Marina Draghici

Makeup / hair

Michal Bigger

VFX supervisor

Alan Munro

Stunt coordinator

Daniel Arrias

Runtime

127 min · 2h 7m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$130,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Trial by Fire (2019) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

63% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

51/100

IMDB rating

7.1/10 · 16,402 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Edward Zwick

• 
  The Last Samurai

  2003 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Blood Diamond

  2006 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Glory

  1989 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Legends of the Fall

  1994 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Family

  1976 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Love & Other Drugs

  2010 · ★ 7.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Trial By Fire | Official Trailer | In Select Theaters May 17

  Trailer · Official

Production companies

Who made it

• FL

  Flashlight Films

  US

• 

  Bedford Falls Productions

  US

• TH

  The Domain Group

Key crew

• Rigging GripMichael W. Hoban
• Stunt DoubleAmy Lynn Tuttle
• StuntsDean Grimes
• Stunt DoubleAdrienne Ballenger
• "B" Camera OperatorCatherine E. Greene
• Visual Effects SupervisorAlan Munro
• Visual Effects ProducerBrian Jochum
• StuntsMichael Endoso
• Stunt CoordinatorDaniel Arrias
• StuntsJames Hutchison III
• Stunt DoubleCal Johnson
• StuntsCory DeMeyers
• "A" Camera OperatorGregg Easterbrook
• StuntsRemington Steele
• "B" Camera OperatorStewart Smith
• Stunt DriverNick DeKay
• AuthorDavid Grann
• Set DecorationJaved Noorullah
• Executive ProducerKathryn Dean
• Art DirectionJustin O'Neal Miller
• Makeup Department HeadMichal Bigger
• ProducerAlex Soros
• ProducerEdward Zwick
• ProducerAllyn Stewart

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• falsely accused
• texas
• biography
• based on true story
• trial
• arson
• based on magazine, newspaper or article
• death of a child

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2018-08-31· Telluride Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2019-05-17R

Also known as

International titles

• Испытание огнёмRU
• Изпитание чрез огънBG
• El caso WillinghamES
• Chrzest OgniemPL
• 疑惑の炎JP