Review: Katie Holmes & Luke Kirby In Bipolar Disorder Drama 'Touched With Fire'
What role does mental illness — particularly bipolar disorder — play in creativity and art? Does experiencing the dramatic highs and lows of the illness fuel creation, and does treatment of symptoms dampen that artistic energy? Freshman filmmaker Paul Dalio’s “Touched with Fire” explores the romance between two poets with the affliction. Forces both internal and external drive the couple together and apart as they struggle to write, love, and survive.
Carla (Katie Holmes) begins the film at a low point, unenthusiastically reading her book of poetry to a small, uninvolved group at an event. She is quickly consumed by the desire to figure out what triggered her initial manic episode shortly after college, which leads her to accidentally check herself into a facility under the care of her psychiatrist. After intending just to spend a single night there while doing research in her paperwork, she is not allowed to leave the next morning. By contrast, Marco (Luke Kirby)...