Jeanne, a mathematics student, travels to the Middle East to retrace her mother’s footsteps. Simon, initially resistant, eventually joins her. The narrative intercuts between the twins' present-day investigation and their mother’s harrowing past in an unnamed country (widely understood to be a fictionalized Lebanon during its civil war). As the twins peel back layers of history, they uncover the truth of their mother’s life: a tale of forbidden love, tragedy, political radicalization, imprisonment, and a secret that binds them all.
Jeanne travels to her mother's unnamed homeland (a fictionalized version of Lebanon) to unravel the mystery. The film masterfully weaves two timelines:
Villeneuve uses the mystery of the twins' parentage to mirror the fractured identity of a nation in conflict. The film’s title, which translates to "Fires," symbolizes the literal fires of war and the metaphorical "fires" of trauma that burn through a family tree until someone has the courage to extinguish them with the truth [5]. Cinematic Mastery