Amber Heard Gets Whipped While Trying to Protect Scapegoat From Angry Mob in New Movie Trailer

Amber Heard is returning to the big screen for the first time following her much-publicized defamation trial against her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.

A trailer for the actress's upcoming thriller In the Fire dropped on Wednesday, featuring Heard as Grace Burnham, a doctor caring for a boy with extraordinary abilities. Set in the 1890s, Heard's character travels to a remote plantation where she treats the child, whom the townsfolk believe to be possessed by the devil.

"[In the Fire] is a meditation on the almost supernatural powers of love told through a strong-willed and independent woman at the turn of the 20th century," Heard said in a statement. "I feel lucky to be surrounded by such an amazing cast. They’re as dedicated and magical as the characters they play."

The film's themes seem especially pertinent following Heard and Depp's legal proceedings. In the trailer, Heard's character seeks to protect the child from an angry mob that wants to destroy him. One shot in the teaser shows Heard's Burnham getting publicly whipped for standing up for what she believes in. During the defamation trial, Heard became the target of an online mob of angry Depp fans, who harassed and ridiculed her relentlessly during the trial. Depp ultimately won the trial, with a jury finding that Heard had defamed him by speaking out as a survivor of domestic abuse in an op-ed that never named her ex-husband.

Still, when Heard walked the red carpet at the 69th Taormina Film Festival in June, she told People that, at its heart, In the Fire is all about love.

“It’s a beautiful movie about the almost supernatural effect and force of love. It is about the boundaries that love can cross and its creation, and really about the overwhelming power that love has,” she said.  

The film, which co-stars Lorenzo McGovern Zaini, Eduardo Noriega and Sophie Amber, lands in theaters and on-demand Oct. 13.