There may be a time when life decides to throw you for a loop. Something will happen that will cause you to live differently, and with a new perspective. The film “Soul on Fire” tells the story of John O’Leary and how his life changed after an accident with fire.
This movie was released on October 10, 2025, and is based off of John O’Leary’s bestselling memoir, “On Fire”. The film was directed by Sean McNamara, and stars Joel Courtney, John Corbett, William H. Macy, Stephanie Szostak and Masey McLain. It scored 80% on the Rotten Tomato scale, and recieved 6.6/10 stars according to IMDB.
At a young age, John saw some other kids playing with gasoline and matches and decided to try it out. As a reault of this decsion, the matches exploded into a house fire, burning John on 100% of his body. Many doctors said that he had less than 1% chance of living, but for his family and some other friends, they would not let John give up. The movie depicts John starting his road to recovery, and living the rest of his life joyfully, despite having to adjust to a different body. His fingers had gotten infected and had to be removed, but his face recovered and in the end was the only thing that did not have scars.
Throughout his life, John made friends, and one of them was Jack Buck, announcer for the St Louis Cardinals. Another one was Nurse Roy, one of the nurses that would not let him give up during his stay in the hospital. The two would later discover that they loved each other and wanted to start a family. During the first part of his later life, he went into construction with one of his college buddies. Later though, after being asked to speak for a couple groups, John started traveling the world speaking to hundreds of people about his life and what God had taught him.
One of the taglines from this movie is quoted from John, “You get one life. Make yours matter.” John decided to live a full life after his accident, but it took a while for him to move on. He realized that he could make an impact on others with his story and by telling it he was also healing part of himself and breaking down any walls that he had built from the trauma of the situation.
One question that John kept asking throughout his life was “Why me?”. That is a question that people ask themselves a lot when life goes sideways and something goes wrong. Why did it happen to them? Why now? The answer is never simple. In a way, everyone faces challenges in their lives, and we all respond differently. John did not give up on his life, even though it became extremely hard for him. He constantly questioned why he got burned in the fire, and the people in his life responded by showing that they loved him no matter what. They chose to be with him through it all. This the same way that God chooses every single one of us, no matter who we are and what we go through. He leads us through tough times and doesn’t let us give up. He places the right people in our lives at the right time to help us grow and endure. John has done amazing things since his accident and has impacted lives in such a way that leads people to think about what they are thankful for and how they can live their lives for the betterment of others.
At the end of the movie, John quotes a well-known motivational quote that brings the entire movie together. It states, “The most powerful weapon on Earth is the human soul on fire”. This movie would be rated 5 out of 5 stars. It shares an amazing message and causes the audience to have some of their own reflection. Every moment in the movie was meaningful.
“Soul on Fire” new in theaters.
