‘The Fire Inside’ review: Dir. Rachel Morrison (2025)

The boxing genre is one as well-worn as any sporting great’s gloves, but that doesn’t stop them from still landing the punches, particularly when it comes to mining true-life inspiration for something that offers something a little different to what has come before. 

That is most certainly the case when it comes to Rachel Morrison’s The Fire Inside, which packs a lot of very promising pedigree ingredients. There’s the point of inspiration: the struggles and rise to sporting glory of US Olympic boxer Claressa ‘T. Rex’ Shields (here played by Ryan Destiny). Then there’s the fact that the story has been scripted by none other than acclaimed filmmaker Barry Jenkins, of course, best known for his Best Picture-winning Moonlight. 

Then there is Morrison herself, making her feature directorial debut after being Ryan Coogler’s director of photography on Fruitvale Station, Black Panther and – most pertinently – Creed. Within that film, itself the seventh instalment in the storied Rocky franchise, Morrison and Coogler combined effectively to electrify the various boxing scenes through an empathetic and visceral eye that threw you right into the action, standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the finest boxing bouts put to screen. 

Having Morrison at the helm this time out, there’s much to be excited about with her own take on the much-explored genre. While the bouts here don’t pack as much of a punch as they did in her collaboration with Coogler, there is no denying that there is still the same amount of heart in a story that is equal parts inspiring and enraging. 

Charting Shields’ youth to her being trained under local boxing coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree-Henry) in her hometown of Flint, Michigan and then getting her shot at the London 2012 Olympics, much of the film feels as though it is going to unfold as you’d expect, with training montages, inspiring speeches and a rise to glory all present and correct. 

But what makes this stand out is Shields herself, with the figures of her life presented with humanity and nuance both on the page and on screen. We get glimpses at Shields’ struggles at home living in poverty, with her father incarcerated and her mother battling addiction, leading Shields to care for her two younger siblings, while also trying to balance her boxing career and high school life. It colours the film as more of a coming-of-age teen drama than a boxing movie, with Destiny proving to be a compelling lead, demonstrating both Shields’ drive and insecurities throughout. 

As a boxing movie, it crafts a touching dynamic between Sheilds and her trainer Jason, again played brilliantly by Tyree-Henry who balances a gentle soul with stubbornness and frustration to once again lead to a very well-rounded portrayal. The bouts themselves aren’t too flashy – bar one very slick transition during a fight montage as Shields moves up the ranks – but they more than serve Shields’s journey and the more grounded approach across the narrative. 

Where it really soars as a boxing movie is in the shift it takes in its third act. This is not a story where victory is won and everything is suddenly fine thanks to newfound fame. Shields’ story is one of a continued struggle to explore her potential, hindered by an industry that refuses to look at women boxers as equal to their male counterparts when it comes to everything from advertising to partnership opportunities and pay It becomes a story about the struggle in different forms and battles on several fronts, not just in the ring. 

Morrison’s feature debut is a very solid and well-told contribution to the boxing genre. Its grounded and empathetic approach which works best when playing out as a coming-of-age drama, gives Shields’s story a platform outside of her impressive sporting achievements through nuanced writing and performances. The Fire Inside – and Shields herself – is a winner. 

The Fire Inside is released in UK and Irish cinemas 7 February 2025.