The Fire Inside

Bluesky

If you remember one news story about the 2024 Olympics, the chances are that it’s the wild claims made about two women of colour involved in the boxing events. There was a good deal of misinformation involved but the core of it was that they couldn’t really be women because, horror of horrors, they were good at hitting people. Controversy has always surrounded women’s boxing, and it’s at its worst when racial prejudice plays a role too. At the same time as that story was playing out, director Rachel Morrison – best known for her Oscar-nominated cinematography in Mudbound – was putting the finishing touches to this film about Claressa ‘T-Rex’ Shields, who 12 years previously had become the first US woman to bring home Olympic boxing gold.

As a sporting story, this is standard stuff. There’s no familiar beat that it fails to hit, and parts of the real story have even been reworked to fit the clichés better, for no discernible reason. In its wider context, however, it’s something much more interesting. Fans of feelgood tales about talented young people working hard and overcoming the odds will get something from it, even if it stops well before Shields’ career diversified and really came under her control, but it’s where the dream falls short that Morrison finds the real narrative meat, presenting it as just one part of something much bigger.

If you need odds to overcome, there aren’t many better starting points than Flint, Michigan, a city now notorious worldwide for its inability to give its people something as basic as safe drinking water; a city which has been in an economic slump for 40 years, with crumbling infrastructure, a dearth of financial institutions and very little hope. We see it in the snow at the start of the film, seeming still more forlorn, but young Claressa (Jazmin Headely – succeeded in turn by Kylee D Allen and Ryan Destiny) is something different. There’s an intense fierceness about her, as well as natural charisma. It’s this that persuades amateur boxing coach Jason (Brian Tyree Henry) to take her on, despite his initial reluctance. She’s one of those kids who is clearly going to end up hitting people inside the ring or out of it, and better the former. She has also, even as a young child, got remarkable speed and an eye for opportunity.

The thing about opportunity is that it depends, in the end, on a lot more than talent. As Claressa trains, begins to compete and get some victories under her belt, she finds herself under more and more pressure to conform to ideals of femininity that are just not her. Asked why she boxes, she says that she likes beating people up, and the media are outraged, despite the praise they have for men who are similarly straightforward. Jason tries to steer her through it, but the idea that she needs to wear make-up and smile more, that she needs to change her style of clothing and present herself as soft, clearly pains her at every stage. Without it, he points out, she won’t get the sponsorship that amateur athletes depend on to survive. She points out that when men are making three times as much money as women doing the same thing, there’s a much bigger problem.

Adding to all this is the difficult reality of Claressa’s home life. With her mother an addict, she feels a need to take responsibility for supporting her family in every way, which makes it difficult to comply with the schedule set out by the sport. This creates an opportunity to explore issues around class and privilege in sport. It’s deftly handled, without feeling forced, and it gives the actors something additional to work with. Henry and Destiny have natural chemistry which is used to great effect, and in a less crowded year, Destiny would probably have secured more than a few Best Actress nominations. She takes a character who, on the page, you might think you’ve seen before, and turns her into somebody unique.

There’s no shortage of boxing dramas out there, and nobody could have predicted The Fire Inside turning out to be as impressive as it is. If this kind of film is your thing, check it out.