Amber Heard Makes Her Acting Return in Intense Trailer for New Thriller ‘In the Fire’

Amber Heard is back on the big screen.

The first trailer for In the Fire debuted Wednesday, showing Heard, 37, as an American psychiatrist who travels to Colombia to assess a troubled child who locals have come to believe is possessed by the Devil.

Heard said in a statement (provided prior to the ongoing actors’ strike), “The film 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.”

“I feel honored to be part of this labor of love and to be the lead in [director] Conor Allyn’s vision,” she continued. “I feel lucky to be surrounded by such an amazing cast. They’re as dedicated and magical as the characters they play.”

Heard attended the 69th Taormina Film Festival in Italy on June 24 to support the film’s world premiere.

She told PEOPLE at the festival, that the new film is “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,” Heard said at the time. “I don’t want to sound cheesy about it, but it’s a movie about love.”

Heard also appears in the upcoming sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which opens in December and debuted its first trailer last week.

Though it was filmed beforehand, In the Fire is the actress’s first movie to debut since her controversial defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp. The jury sided mostly in Depp’s favor last year. Months later, they reached a settlement and she paid him $1 million.

In the Fire director Allyn told PEOPLE at the Taormina Film Festival that Heard “has an incredibly bright future ahead.”

“I think In the Fire showcases her talents as an actor. I know this is something she is very proud of and it’s something we are very excited to release to the public,” he said. “I think it will be a great opportunity for her to have something beyond the trial and stuff to talk about and to be a platform for a hell of a comeback.”

In the Fire is in theaters and on digital Oct. 13.

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