Things We Lost in the Fire

Things We Lost in the Fire follows Audrey Burke, a woman left to raise two children after her husband is killed in a violent incident. Overwhelmed by grief, she turns to Jerry Sunborne, her husband's oldest and closest friend, a man she had long regarded as a bad influence because of his drug addiction. She invites him to move in with the family, hoping the arrangement will help both of them: he can support her and the children through their loss, while the responsibility of a household gives him a reason to rebuild his own life. The film traces the uneasy bond that forms between them as each struggles with grief and dependence.

Susanne Bier directed the drama, released in 2007, working from a screenplay by Allan Loeb. It sits between her earlier features Brothers and After the Wedding and later films including In a Better World and Bird Box, among the nine titles she directed in the order listed. Halle Berry plays Audrey, Benicio del Toro plays Jerry, and David Duchovny appears as her husband, alongside Alison Lohman, Omar Benson Miller and John Carroll Lynch. Producers included Sam Mendes, Sam Mercer and Barbara Kelly, with 51 credited crew members.

Made for about 16 million US dollars, the film took roughly 9 million worldwide, well short of its cost. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from around 31,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.6 from about 400, and a critics' rating of 6.5 from 127 reviews.