Directed by: Zarrar Kahn
Distributed by: Game Theory Films
Written by Michael Clawson
60/100
Patriarchal oppression is a waking nightmare in Zarrar Kahn’s “In Flames.” It manifests as a sinister presence, haunting and terrorizing mother and daughter Fariha and Mariam as they navigate modern Pakistan as independent women following Fariha’s father’s death. At one point, Mariam, a twenty-something studying medicine, is peacefully driving alone when a man throws a brick through her window and lunges for her keys. Almost animalistic in his rage at the sight of a woman driving without a male companion, the man’s vicious attack is like a jump scare from a zombie movie, but with a true-to-life underlying danger faced by women in fundamentalist cultures. As this directorial debut progresses, the threat that Mariam senses all around her appears as more explicitly supernatural, and Kahn only leans further into horror movie tropes. Overall, the blend of social realism with genre elements is less than revelatory.
For a short while, “In Flames” looks as if it might be a sweeter, more tender movie than it ultimately is. As a result of her incident while driving, Mariam meets-cute with Asad, a fellow student who has just returned from Canada. Asad is gentle and socially progressive, a man who shakes his head when he’s told not to sit so close to his crush on a public bench. But an accident brings Asad and Mariam’s cautious romance to an end, at which point Mariam fights a psychological unraveling as she’s tormented by visions of an undead being. As Mariam, actress Ramesha Nawal is terrific; I was shocked to read that this is her first feature film role. But the more that “In Flames” tries to play as a ghost story, generating chills through its tense score and shadowy figures, the more formulaic it feels. As a parable on misogynistic violence and subjugation, the film is best when it hews to the real.
“In Flames” Trailer
Michael Clawson is a member of the Seattle Film Critic Society you can follow his passion for film on Letterboxd.
