In Flames follows the story of a mother and daughter grappling from the death of the patriarch in the film who start observing strange occurences around them. They must stick together to fight the stigma and the prevalent ghosts around them. Straight up, the film seemed to be an offshoot of films like Shayda or even Inshallah A Boy given how both these films also staged the presence of a mother and daughter relationship against the backdrop of the patriarchal gaze of the society. The only difference lies in the treatment wherein In Flames follows a separate route by incorporating and representing patriarchy in the form of a psychological horror in a screenplay standing at a shade under a 100 minutes. 

The drama opens with the introduction of the two protagonists Mariam and Fariha grieving over the death of the last standing patriarch in the family. Both the protagonists are extremely capable women who could survive independently but the mindset of the society in having a male member in a household running the show does add to the mental pressure of both individuals. The third member in their family is Mariam’s brother who is totally disconnected from the reality and often immersed in his cell phone. Suddenly, the family is privy to an estranged uncle of their who in trying to manipulate the rights of the property comes and meets them. As a parallel track, you get to know that Mariam is a medical student on the verge of graduating until strange occurences begin to transpire around her. In a random incident, you see a man breaking through her car window simply because he couldn’t digest the fact that Mariam was ‘driving’ a vehicle, a sentiment that reflected the mindset of the society. 

The proceedings are atmospheric with a steady sense of world building particularly around the character of Mariam who has a host of men around her in the background. Be it a creepy stranger who chooses to masturbate right under her mansion much to her disgust or a persistent but endearing friend Asad with whom Mariam slowly starts falling for. Yet, an incident at the halfway mark slowly brings out the scars of Mariam in the form of a tender psychological horror. The writers stay away from the regular tropes of a horror film. And so, you aren’t privy to regular jumpscares or creaking doors but instead an atmosphere that slowly draws you in the drama. One criticism for me was the second act that didn’t quite land the way it ought to have. It felt slightly muddled with the narrative with a little more buildup than I would have ideally liked(given how the world building of the first act had also set things to perspective). A little move on wouldn’t have hurt but I appreciated the frames that reflected the escapist mindset of Mariam even as she seemed to be heavily scarred for reasons best known to her. 

The commentary on the prevalent patriarchy is not restricted just to the character of Mariam but also with Fariha who was finding it a task to manage her two children without much support even as her uncle had his eyes on their property. The events leading to the final act cast a much clear picture on what was the mystery behind the mysterious figures frequently popping up in the background. And the end was symbolic of burning the prevalent patriarchy to ashes literally and figuratively. Overall, the screening is pretty well written and offers a different take on the patriarchal society and its stringent mindset that all of us are privy to.