Netflix’s ‘From The Ashes’ (2024) follows a tragic story within the confines of a stringent girls’ school, where a fire accident takes place, prompting everyone to question one thing: was it a mere accident or deliberate arson? Directed by Khalid Fahad, the film stars Shaima Al Tayeb, Khairia Abu Laban, and Adwa Fahad in lead roles and is loosely based on a true story. In the following article, we will discuss the Arabic Netflix Original in detail, which contains spoilers; reader discretion is advised.
From The Ashes (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film is set inside a very strict all-girls school named Secondary School 2300 for Girls. Once the staff and students enter the school, a guard locks the gate for the school day. The school has a great staff aiming to provide the best education for these young students. However, like every school, this also has troublesome students who often pick on others. The teachers are fed up with their constant trouble-making instances, and despite multiple warnings for violating school conduct, these three girls often get away unpunished.
Amira is one of the bright students who has always been the student of the month, making others envy her. In particular, Heba, Mona, and Masheal always find reasons to bully her. Rana, the daughter of the school principal and Amira’s best friend, observes everything but hardly speaks up against the bullies. Partly also because her mother, Hayat, has always set high standards for her, and indulging in petty things is not on her checklist.
Why does Hayat put Seham in charge of the school?
Hayat is a divorcee and has been trying her best to keep her husband away from their life after he got married to another woman who bore him a son. The teachers often go to Hayat complaining about the troubling kids, but she has personal agendas. While Rana’s father wants an out-of-court settlement, Hayat bans her daughter from speaking to her father. Meanwhile, when Hayat has to deal with court sessions, she puts Seham as the school’s vice principal. However, Seham is not equipped to make formal decisions because of under confidence.
This is when the bullying gets to the next level when Amira, one day, gets locked inside a store room, and suddenly, the school compound catches fire. While Seham and the other staff members try their best to evacuate the girls to a safer place, unfortunately, the main gate is locked, which doesn’t allow anyone to get out of the compound. Eventually, the firefighters break into the school only to find everyone severely injured. One of the teachers, Afaf, pregnant at the time, unfortunately, dies, and Amira, whose helpless screams were unheard, also dies in the storeroom.
Why are Mona, Heba, and Mashael investigated for Amira’s death?
Hayat, who learns about the mishap, immediately rushes to the school and finds chaos. She looks for her daughter Rana, and later, we see her visiting the injured in the hospital. Hayat asks Marzouka, who worked as a janitor in the school, about the details, and she tells her that she will find all the answers. Hayat also visits Amira’s prayer meeting, where the deceased’s mother starts blaming the principal for ignoring everything. The following days, the police investigate the matter – how the fire broke in and how Amira got locked inside the storeroom, minutely questioning all the staff and the students but to no avail.
When Hayat decides to reopen the school, she takes the matter into her own hands and, along with Seham, starts investigating everything from scratch. Meanwhile, the school gets stricter and undergoes a revamp during the daytime. The students are asked to come in the nighttime. There is a zero-tolerance policy on prohibited items, and any students violating the rules will immediately be suspended. Sehem finds out that Mona has a cellphone, and after confiscating the device, she finds out WhatsApp messages that might lead them to the culprit. However, when Hayat speaks to Mona, Heba, and Mashael – individually and together, she learns that the girls were actually planning on celebrating a surprise birthday.
Who locked Amira in the storeroom, and why?
Hayat, still having her suspicion on the three, keeps a close eye on their every move. Determined to find the person responsible for a student’s death and knowing that these girls had motives to harm Amira, she tries to manipulate them into disclosing information about their friends. Despite multiple rounds of questioning, Mona and Mashael stick together, trying to prove their innocence. Heba, however, turns against her friends. Meanwhile, Hayat tells her daughter to skip school until she feels better and also gives her sleeping pills to help her sleep. However, Rana, who has been feeling distressed, ends up confessing to her grandmother that she was the one who locked Amira in the storeroom.
After scrutinizing the three girls’ motives, we learn that Heba stole Amira’s book on the day of the fire, leading Amira to go to the storeroom to get a new book. Hayat suspends the three girls, and the police take Heba on a charge of manslaughter. It turns out that Hayat had been pressuring her daughter to become the best student in the school. Rana succumbed to her mother’s constant expectations and wanted the teachers to pick her name instead of Amira’s for the school speech. Hence, she locked her best friend in the storeroom.
From The Ashes (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Hayat the main reason for Amira’s death?
When Rana could not hold her guilt inside, she burst out on her mother, blaming her as the main reason for taking such a drastic step. We also learn that Hayat started the investigation after learning from Mashael’s mother that Rana knew about Amira’s scenes in the storeroom. However, to save Rana’s name from the inquiry that tarnished the prestigious school’s name, Hayat puts everything on Heba’s shoulders because of her indecent behavior throughout her tenure.
Rana decides to turn herself in to the police, realizing that despite Heba’s behavior towards other students, she doesn’t deserve to be punished instead of her. In a brief flashback, we see how the fire actually erupted when Seham catches Mona and Mashael smoking. Although she doesn’t report the girls, she gives them a warning, asking them to leave, confiscating the cigarette, and smoking it herself. Simultaneously, Rana locks Amira in the storeroom. When Amira falls inside due to the darkness, the noise of the books falling leads Seham to throw the cigarette that causes the fire.
The ending of “From the Ashes” shows Hayat losing her prestigious job to Seham. The three girls’ lives take a drastic turn when Heba becomes a drug dealer, Mona lives a very suppressed life, and Mashael’s family gets expelled from the school.
Is Netflix’s ‘From the Ashes’ based on a true story?
While Netflix’s ‘From the Ashes’ draws inspiration from a tragic real-life event, it is essential to note that the film is a work of fiction. Set within the confines of an all-girls school, the narrative unfolds against the backdrop of an ordinary school day that takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious fire engulfs the school’s basement. The film delves into the ensuing chaos, panic, and the problematic choices students and teachers face in the wake of this unimaginable disaster.
The storyline is reminiscent of an actual incident where a fire broke out in an all-girls school, leading to an unfortunate event. However, ‘From the Ashes’ is a fictional interpretation of those events, utilizing creative storytelling to explore the human experience amid calamity.
