[6] Three scientists (Dr. Laura Sommerfield, Dr. Fabio Cavani, and Dr. Arnold Meir) are sent to South America as part of a U.N. investigation into an ecological disaster of Salar de Uyuni.

In the past, two rivers had been diverted for irrigation, but the effort failed, and the result was an ever growing toxic salt flat.

Upon landing, all three are kidnapped by the man who had become CEO (played by Michael Shannon) of the large international consortium held responsible for the ecological disaster.

Dr. Sommerfield is then given a first-class ticket to Rome, to visit the Santissima Trinità dei Monti convent (at the top of the Spanish Steps), which the CEO had always wanted to see, in order to view its cloister, which features an anamorphic fresco of Saint Francis of Paula praying under a tree.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Salt and Fire crowds together some impressive talent on both sides of the camera, precious little of which is put to compelling use.

[12] Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the film 1 out of 4 stars, writing, "It resists any narrative integrity, it chooses acting that is lifeless, it rants endlessly whether it wants to amuse logic or not.