Set in contemporary London, BEYOND THE FIRE focuses on the efforts of a defrocked Catholic priest (Scot Williams) to come to terms with his love for Katie (Cara Seymour). Although still a virgin, he believes that he can overcome his hang-ups and acknowledge his passion for her. The task proves highly difficult for him, however, in view of what happened to him when he was a child, that left him in mental as well as physical turmoil.
Maeve Murphy's low-budget drama certainly does not pull its punches; it creates a constricting world dominated by the perpetual presence of sin and guilt. The priest (Sheamy) perpetually goes to church to confess, or to try and obtain spiritual guidance (or inspiration) from the Virgin Mary, but finds his path continually blocked by an officious senior priest Father Brendan (Hugh Sachs). Outside the church Sheamy is like a mental ship without a rudder, alternating between moods of extreme joy and despair. Katie tries her best to empathize with him, but she still regards his behavior as inexplicable. One sequence, taking place in a night-club/ disco with the strobe lights making identification difficult, sums up Sheamy's difficulties; ostensibly out to enjoy himself, he finds himself unable to cope and ends up on the street.
The world conjured up in Murphy's film is an unfriendly, indifferent environment in which illnesses - both physical as well are emotional - are treated with overweening indifference. The lighting is deliberately dark: even during the daytime, the sun hardly ever shines. This is an appropriate visual metaphor for Sheamy's state of mind. BEYOND THE FIRE ends on a note of qualified optimism, as the two lovers vow to stay together; but at no point are we assured that their relationship will be a long-term one.
