As humans, it is difficult to put ourselves into dangerous situations, and risk our lives in order to save others. As a firefighter, one must consistently put your own safety on the line.

Only the Brave is a visually stunning, emotional, and heart wrenching depiction of the true events regarding the Yarnell Hill Fire which occurred in Arizona in 2013. The movie follows the lives of various firefighters, such as Eric Marsh, who is superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, which is an elite group of firefighters, who are equipped with handling high risk wildfires, and our protagonist Brendan, along with many others.

Brendan is not your typical hero. He starts out as a lazy stoner living in his mom’s basement, and evolves to become one of the best firefighters in the Hotshots, after coming to the realization he must be a good father to his newborn daughter. The movie does an incredible job of developing each character, and allowing viewers to sympathize and come to love them, which in turn further amplifies the experience of watching the climax.

One major flaw I found in the movie was the unnecessary drag in the storyline for the first hour and a half. I personally felt their was too much screen time for things that did not add to the central plot at all. Each character in this movie is flawed, and has their own personal struggles in regard to their home life, which many viewers may find easy to relate to. Each onscreen character stays extremely true to their real life counterparts, which is crucial for movies which are meant to pay tribute to those who have fallen. Only the Brave will inspire you, reduce you to a pile of tears, and make you reevaluate your place and role in this world.