After a fire destroyed a home in Texas and killed three children, their father was convicted of their murders and put on death row. But was he actually to blame? The 2018 film Trial by Fire, from director Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond), explores the true story of Cameron Todd Willingham’s alleged wrongful conviction, and the woman who fought against the Texas justice system to save his life. The crime drama stars Laura Dern, Jack O’Connell, and Emily Meade.
In December 1991, Todd Willingham (O’Connell) wakes to find his home in Corsicana, Texas, in flames. Despite his attempts to rescue his three daughters — 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmen and Kameron — he’s unable to save them. When arson investigators inspect the house, they determine Todd deliberately set the fire and charge him with capital murder. At trial, Todd’s lawyer, Bobby (Pettie), puts up little defense against the prosecutor (Douglas), and Todd is sent to death row. But when playwright Elizabeth Gilbert (Dern) learns about Todd’s story, she’ll do whatever she can to overturn his conviction.
No. It’s based on the 2009 New Yorker article “Trial by Fire,” by David Grann (Killers of the Flower Moon, The Wager).
Yes. It’s based on a 1991 arson case and its subsequent trial, Willingham v. State of Texas, which resulted in a capital murder charge for Todd Willingham, who was convicted of killing his three children. The film portrays the real events that followed after Willingham became pen pals with playwright Elizabeth Gilbert, who eventually began a campaign to free Willingham from death row on the suspicion that he was innocent.
The film takes place in Corsicana, Texas, where the real events occurred.
