Bilbao, Basque Country, 2001: a ruthless terrorist attack shatters the family of police officer Carlos Martínez. Barcelona, 2013: Carlos leaves Mariusz, a Polish immigrant, in charge of his daughter and, offering vague excuses, returns to the Basque Country and rents a house in Lekeitio, a small village by the sea.
Acting
José Coronado's face does more acting than most scripts.
Cinematography
Lekeitio's grey seascape becomes a character in mourning.
Director
Luis Marías
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
ETA's 2011 ceasefire hovers over this film; it's one of few Spanish thrillers to treat Basque terrorism as personal wound rather than political abstraction.
The original title 'El Niño' refers to Carlos's lost son, but the English 'Fire' better captures the film's central metaphor—slow smoldering, not explosive flame.
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