Soul on Fire (2025)
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12-month trend
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A real-life survivor of severe fire burns navigates the journey of rebuilding his life and finding inspiration.
The story
Soul on Fire is a biographical drama centered on the life of John O'Leary, a native of St. Louis. The narrative explores his harrowing experience of surviving severe fire burns that covered his entire body. The film depicts his journey of survival and the subsequent challenges he faced in his life following the tragedy.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Soul on Fire is a biographical drama based on the memoir 'On Fire, The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life' by John O'Leary. The film follows O'Leary, a St. Louis native, after he survives devastating fire burns that cover his entire body. It chronicles his physical and emotional journey of recovery and his path toward finding a radically inspired life. The production features modern-day scenes at the New Busch Stadium and utilizes special effects to recreate the demolished Busch Memorial Stadium for older sequences.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Sean McNamara
- Writers
- Gregory Poirier · writer; John O'Leary · source material adaptation
- Cast and characters
- Joel Courtney · John O'Leary; John Corbett; Stéphanie Szostak; Masey McLain; DeVon Franklin; William H. Macy
- Genres
- biographical drama
- Themes
- survival; resilience; inspiration
- Tone and mood
- biographical; dramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- biographical; burn survivor; memoir adaptation
- Source material / true-story basis
- On Fire, The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life by John O'Leary
- Reception
- The film grossed $7.4 million in the United States and Canada, opening at No. 6 and maintaining a spot in the Top 10 for two consecutive weeks.
- Production trivia
- Filming took place in Missouri in November 2023.; The film features special effects to depict the demolished Busch Memorial Stadium.; The soundtrack includes songs by Third Day.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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