There are two layers to the premise of Flight 404 – one involving the planned trip of Ghada jeopardized by an unforeseen event. And the other involving Ghada jostling from door to door to accumulate her funds while trying to keep her Hajj trip intact. But connecting these two layers is a stark commentary about faith and materialistic conflicts that often are blurred over the course of the events in the film. And to completely understand the context, it is important to dwell on the character of Ghada and her levels of morality which you discover at regular moments in the screenplay. So when you are introduced to Ghada, you see her working in a corporate setup and earning a good buck while often being aloof to the undercurrents of tension in her household. She holds a position of authority that often sees her taking pride in taking her father to Hajj, while conveniently distancing herself from her mother by being rude to her. On probing further, you do get to know that Ghada had hardly had a smooth life growing up – she infact seemed to work in the flesh trade industry which is often regarded as a ‘sin’ in her religion. Therefore, it hardly comes as a surprise that you spot Ghada with a hijab at most junctures in the screenplay, almost as a reckoning of her changed self and her faith, which sways more towards her belief in The Almighty.

The drama is quick to introduce the event that potentially changes the course of Ghada’s life, even as faith makes way for desperation, given that she needed to arrange a huge sum of money for the dual surgeries of her mother following her accident. In a way, the first form of trigger with respect to her past was her mother that paved way for the rest of the journey. Ghada’s past is a murky one having dealt with different kinds of men who had doubled up as her clients – in fact, she is also hinted at being married with one while later on, aborting her own baby. But her desperate quest for money makes her visit each chapters of her past that were buried in her oblivion – almost completely ironic to her journey of faith that she wished to undergo during her trip to the Hajj. And oblivious to her, this little trip to her past was nothing short of redemption as well, even as her cerebral vision remained fogged towards faith and swayed towards materialistic gains.

The entire template of the drama is designed to be a tug of war between faith and inner conflicts with Ghada at the center of it. But in a strange manner, the two sides often switch, or rather merge, to present a grey outcome often in the form of a choice for Ghada. So Ghada essentially finds herself at crossroads in life – a dilemma of having to choose from the two wrongs, or ‘sins’ as she would call it while trying to arrange money for her mother. It is always a difficult choice when the road ahead is grey – an amalgation of black and white, or right and wrong that paves way for the future. And so, you witness Ghada having to choose from returning briefly to her flesh trade, or alternately selling a piece of land that has a tag of illegality attached to it. In between, the tempt of snitching gold from an elderly stranger is also hinted at, after Ghada helps an elderly woman at a staircase.

The deeper you dwell in the film, the deeper account you get of Ghada’s past, particularly with the men in her life. The writers play well with the perceptions of these characters that seemingly are painted in broad strokes of black to begin with, at times represented through their actions of infidelity or even a murder with their respective pasts, while briefly offering an arc of redemption by the end of it. This had more to do with the shifting gaze of Ghada, and her stance of ‘certain activities’ being considered as a sin, and some not, only to realise that one stems out of honesty and the other of deceit. This is pretty much linked to her concept of faith that awakens the emotions buried deep inside her. In a way, the drama could also be linked to karma with regard to Ghada, who had to undergo all the troubles to cleanse her soul, much like her aspirations of visiting Hajj for the same purpose. And the drama leaves you with a lot of hope whike coaxing you to question your beliefs similar to Ghada which are beautifully summed up in a wonderfully written screenplay.