If you jumped into From the Ashes without knowing about the tragedy that inspired it, you may think you’re watching a spin-off of Netflix’s other breakout Arab hit Al Rawabi School for Girls.
The opening sequence of the film, the second by Saudi filmmaker Khalid Fahad, brings audiences into the homes of teenage girls as they get ready for what seems like another average, gruelling day at their high school in rural Saudi Arabia. We witness the pressures put on them to dress a certain way, for example, just as we see them tear off each garment the second their parents turn the corner.
There’s incessant judgment from their teachers, the staff and their peers. There’s palpable anxiety over how each moment’s performance might define their futures. Perhaps there’s joy in this world, too, but we can hardly see it. The fire hasn’t even started yet, but already From the Ashes feels uncomfortable.
Fahad packs a lot more into the film’s 92-minute runtime than initially meets the eye. From afar, this should just be a simple retelling of a real-life tragedy, the story of an all-girls school caught in a fatal fire. But this is much more – it’s a murder mystery, a high school melodrama, a thriller and at times a teen comedy.
The heart-wrenching event the film’s premise prepares us for, the big fire, comes in the first 30 minutes. That alone might leave you colder than expected. Once that’s out of the way, however, the film starts to get more interesting.
The director has always been a man of ambition. In fact, From the Ashes arrives only six months after his first film, the Ithra-produced Valley Road, hit cinemas. While that one didn’t find the audience it deserved if you seek it out, you’ll find the work of a filmmaker anxious to give back to a medium that gave him so much – it’s a Disney-esque musical, a road adventure, a coming-of-age saga and a work of pure family-friendly fantasy. He also showed an immediate talent for bringing out the best in his young performers, a talent on display here, as well.
In fact, if there’s joy to be found as it goes on, it’s in the performances. After one of the classmates is found dead, locked in a closet as the fire spreads, an investigation begins into who put her in there, and everyone becomes a suspect. The school’s principal, played by Saudi actress Shaima Al Tayeb (Hajjan) is a genuinely layered character, and Al Tayeb makes it plain why she’s the most tenured actor of the bunch, projecting menace and tenderness in equal measure.
But it’s the young cast who make it feel like we're watching the next generation of Saudi talent emerge – which is a key aspect of the fun in keeping a close eye on the kingdom’s growing film industry. It only takes a few scenes with young performers such as Wafa Muhamad and Hamss Bandar, and it’s clear that each has a big future in front of them.
And for director Fahad, the real question is how many genres he plans to tackle in his next effort. With these two compelling works under his belt, I’ll happily be there to find out.
From the Ashes is now streaming on Netflix
