A one-word title for a movie, vexing, poorly dubbed, Syfy channel-like, made for the weary, beaming streaming crowd. Yeah I'm talking about 2025's Firebreak. a pseudo thriller that's more about Hitchcockian panics and suppositions than uncontrolled towering infernos. So OK, are the main characters intolerant or just plain paranoiac? And where's the plot buildup? And um, why does it take forever for the combustion and/or burning to reach ye olde denizens of Segovia, Spain. "Is it snowing?" Uh no, that ain't vapor my young Padawan.
So yeah, there aren't many fire clips in Firebreak, probably because the special effects are just you know, ho-hum. Basically this flick is like watching Alex Garland's Annihilation from 8 years back, less trippy yet more signal, less about the flames yet more about the onus probandi.
You want a cast of unknowns yelling at each other while trees and shrub steadily go up in smoke all around them? Yup, Firebreak can sort of be your ticket. And do you want those same actors constantly howling the words "where is she?" and "we've got to get out of here" enough times to warrant a freaking drinking game? Me neither, don't think so.
Starring Belen Cuesta, Diana Gomez, and Enric Auquer and distributed by Netflix (I've been saying that a lot these days), Firebreak is about a widowed family who visits their forestry, summer home only to plan on selling it after the death of a recent member. As said family is getting said home ready for buyers, a wildfire breaks out and a 7-year-old child goes missing. Conflict and chaos ensue with the mystery of the disappearing girl being the dramatic center and the wildfire in question being merely the backdrop. A couple of flashbacks here, a violent shindy there, a whole lot of diegesis discontent everywhere. Near "backfire".
Written by Jesse Burleson
