The Blaze

The Blaze

85 mins | Drama, Action, Thriller | March 8, 2023

Disaster movies tend to inhabit the close-but-not-too-close realm of the ‘what if?’, but Quentin Reynaud’s taut drama evokes a reality that is painfully immediate, as the world combusts around us. Alex Lutz (recently seen as the son in Gaspar Noé’s Vortex) plays a man determined to escape with his elderly father (the ineffable André Dussollier) from a wildfire that is rapidly approaching their forested area of southern France. The pair know all the local roads, and the secret detours, but when they are caught in a dead end, they seem to be running out of possible exits. At once road movie, claustrophobic jeopardy thriller and portrait of a prickly but tender father-son relationship, this finely acted and executed film expertly lays on the heat.

The Blaze

85 mins | Drama, Action, Thriller | March 8, 2023

The Blaze
Disaster movies tend to inhabit the close-but-not-too-close realm of the ‘what if?’, but Quentin Reynaud’s taut drama evokes a reality that is painfully immediate, as the world combusts around us. Alex Lutz (recently seen as the son in Gaspar Noé’s Vortex) plays a man determined to escape with his elderly father (the ineffable André Dussollier) from a wildfire that is rapidly approaching their forested area of southern France. The pair know all the local roads, and the secret detours, but when they are caught in a dead end, they seem to be running out of possible exits. At once road movie, claustrophobic jeopardy thriller and portrait of a prickly but tender father-son relationship, this finely acted and executed film expertly lays on the heat.
IMDb rating 5.3
Producers StudioCanal, Alliance de Production Cinematographique (APC), 22h22, Apollo Films, Gapbusters
Original title En plein feu
Directors Quentin Reynaud
Writers Quentin Reynaud

Cast

Alex Lutz

as Simon Théodas

André Dussollier

as Joseph Théodas

Sophie Parel

as Claire

Laura Sépul

as Juliane

Vallier Vaudin

as Samuel

Jules Marchand

as Pompier

Christophe Sardain

as Militaire barrage

Nganji Mutiri

as Mickaël

Alexandre Collado

as Fils de Claire et Mickaël

Chantal Ravalec

as Suzanne

Eric Brocardi

as Caporal

Marcel Bouillon

as Le prêtre