Trial by Fire (2019) on Netflix
After a fire kills his three daughters, Cameron Todd Willingham is convicted and sentenced to death in Texas. He protests his innocence, and his letter reaches playwright Elizabeth Gilbert.
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- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb7.1/1016,413 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes61%
Trailer
Plot summary
Cameron Todd Willingham wakes on December 23, 1991, to find his house in flames. He cannot save his three daughters. At his trial, prosecutor John Jackson says the fire was deliberately set, with gasoline in a pentagram shape and a refrigerator blocking the kitchen door. Witnesses call Willingham violent. His former cellmate Johnny Webb testifies that Willingham admitted setting the fire. Willingham and his wife Stacy protest his innocence, but he is sentenced to death. On death row, inmates and guards beat and threaten him, and he is placed in solitary confinement. He asks lawyer Reaves for help. His letter reaches Elizabeth Gilbert, a playwright sympathetic to his case. She visits the prison, and the two connect over their shared struggles as parents.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Trial by Fire (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film is based on David Grann's 2009 New Yorker article about the case Willingham v. State of Texas, the criminal case of Cameron Todd Willingham.
