“Incendies” is a slow-burning tragedy about a mother’s secrets and the children who have to live with them. Denis Villeneuve directs from his own screenplay, adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s play, and he turns a domestic grief story into something that touches the whole Middle East. The film follows twins Jeanne and Simon Marwan as they chase down the truth about their mother Nawal, who died before she could explain her past. What starts as a quest for a proper gravestone ends up pulling them through decades of war, betrayal and love.
Trailer, via Sony Pictures Classics.
Nawal’s Will
The story opens with Nawal’s death. She leaves behind a will that refuses to give her a proper gravestone until her children find her lost brother and her supposedly dead father. There are two letters: one for the brother, one for the father. Jeanne takes the mission seriously. Simon balks, still carrying the weight of a troubled relationship with his mother. The film spends its runtime unraveling why Nawal made these demands, and the answer is not simple.
Nawal came from a Christian family in a Levantine country. She fell in love with a refugee named Wahab, which led to her pregnancy. Her family killed Wahab and nearly killed her in an honor killing, but her grandmother stepped in. That grandmother tattooed the back of the baby’s heel and sent him to an orphanage in Kfar Khout. Nawal promised to leave the village after her baby’s birth and start a new life in the city of Daresh.
The War Years
As Nawal studies at university in Daresh, civil war breaks out. War crimes follow, and Nawal becomes an opponent of the conflict on human rights grounds. Her son’s orphanage is destroyed by Muslim militants. She leaves Daresh to find him, boarding a bus full of Muslim refugees. Christian Nationalists attack the bus, shooting the driver and firing into the passengers. Only Nawal and a mother with her daughter survive unharmed.
“One for the brother. One for the father.”
The Search Begins
Jeanne and Simon meet with the notary Lebel, their mother’s employer and family friend. He helps them piece together the clues Nawal left behind. The film moves between present-day Canada and the flashbacks of Nawal’s life, jumping back to her youth and her years in Daresh during the war. Each jump adds another layer of the story, and Villeneuve handles the timeline with care.
The Cast Carries the Weight
Lubna Azabal plays Nawal, and she is the engine of the film. Villeneuve found her in Paris, drawn to her face in Paradise Now (2005). He said she appeared 18 even though she was 30, and makeup helped cover the years. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin plays Jeanne, and Villeneuve praised her listening skills, calling her “a very generous actress.” Maxim Gaudette plays Simon, and while his role gets less screen time, his performance anchors the present-day scenes.
Rémy Girard plays the notary Lebel, a steady presence in the story. Allen Altman plays the notary Maddad, working with a dialect coach to blend French and Arab accents. The supporting cast fills out the world around Nawal, from her grandmother to the doctor in the emergency room, each adding texture to the larger tragedy.
The Bus Attack
The film’s most harrowing sequence comes when Nawal and the refugees are attacked. The Nationalists set the bus on fire, and the survivors try to escape toward the back. Nawal shows her crucifix and tells the attackers she is Christian. The scene is tense, and it pays off later in the story when the truth about Nawal’s identity is revealed.
A Long Journey
“Incendies” runs 131 minutes, and the pacing is deliberate. Some viewers might find the early sections slow, but the patience pays off. The film is adapted from a play, and it shows in the structure, with long stretches of dialogue driving the plot. This is not a film that leans on spectacle. It leans on faces, on silences, on the weight of a mother’s final request.
The film was shot mainly in Montreal, with fifteen days spent in Jordan. It premiered at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals in September 2010, and it was released in Quebec on 17 September 2010. It met with widespread critical acclaim in Canada and abroad, winning eight Genie Awards, including Best Motion Picture.
Final Word
“Incendies” is a powerful, moving tale of two young adults chasing the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love. Villeneuve builds a story that is both intimate and vast, anchored by a performance from Azabal that carries the film’s emotional weight. The film does not resolve neatly. It leaves questions open, which is the point.
This is a film about inheritance — not just genetic inheritance, but the inheritance of violence and love. Jeanne and Simon are not just looking for a brother and a father. They are looking for answers about who Nawal was, and by extension, who they are.
“Incendies” earns its reputation as one of the best films of its year. It is a demanding watch, but the payoff is real. The film asks you to sit with grief, with anger, with the slow revelation of a life you never knew. It delivers on that promise.
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