The movie Yesterday After Tomorrow on Netflix has clearly taken inspiration from classics like Back to the Future and Hot Tub Time Machine and even gave them a shout-out in the movie! Here, the story follows two brothers, Mazin and Maan, who lost their father in a fire when they were kids. Then they were brought up by their widowed mother. After moving away, they eventually return to their old house, where they used to live with their father, once they’ve grown up. But guess what? They discover a mysterious blue door in the house that acts as a portal to the past! Being curious and excited, the brothers step through the portal and find themselves back in time. Will they get the chance to meet their father again? Can they save him from the fire this time? Let’s find out together!
Spoilers Ahead
What was Mazin’s reaction when his mother wanted to get married?
When the siblings lost their father, Mazin was only 4 years old, and Maan wasn’t even born yet. Their mother, Sanna, was pregnant with Maan at the time. After their father died in the fire, you can imagine how difficult it must have been for Sanna to raise the two on her own. They moved to Al-Safa for a better future. As they grew up and Sanna got older, she thought it was time to move back to their old home. To please their mother, they agreed; after all, she had sacrificed so much for the two boys. Mazin, being the older brother, acted like the man of the house—not by choice but because he had to protect his mother and brother. He had become quite an established man, and their family members relied on him. Moving from the city area back to the old suburban area was quite difficult for the two, but they were eager to manage. They reminisced about their father in that home, missing him and watching old video recordings of Mazin’s childhood birthdays, bringing back memories of the good old times. But then, while everything seemed to be going well, their mother, Sanna, dropped the news: she wanted to get married again. She had always been alone after her husband died, with nobody to talk to and having to look after them on her own. Now that they were grown up, she felt it was high time she had a companion of her own. Maan had no issue with it, but Mazin obviously did. He hadn’t gotten over his father’s memory or his death yet. He was not on board with the idea of his mother remarrying. However, he thought it over and agreed to meet the potential stepfather. His name was Emad. He was a well-to-do businessman from a good family. He brought a watermelon as a gift, but that wasn’t enough to please Mazin. Maan was hopeful for this relationship, but Mazin couldn’t believe his mother could move on so easily. Out of anger and frustration, blaming it all on the “stupid” watermelon, he told his mother she couldn’t get married.
How did they end up in the past?
After this incident, everyone in the house was very upset, and the situation was tense. Mazin really wished his father was there. In the morning, while watching his favorite old birthday video shoot by his father, he started reminiscing about those times. When the video paused, he went down to the basement kitchen to find the old recording tape again and came across a blue door, which acted like some sort of portal. He was shocked and excitedly called his brother, Maan. They were both curious about where it would lead them! At first, they were skeptical but willing to take the risk. After all, Mazin had lost his father at a very young age, and Maan had never known him, so they decided to go through the portal. They went back in time to Mazin’s 4th birthday, when their father was actually making the birthday videos. They knew one thing: they couldn’t mess with anything since it was 2003, and they had come from 20 years in the future.
Messing with the timeline could ruin everything in the future. They saw how their grandfather Mohammad and their father had a strained relationship, where their grandfather never really acknowledged or loved Sanna or his own son. Because of that, they weren’t happy at all, but they didn’t interfere. Meeting their father was a happy moment for them. However, when it was time to go back, they couldn’t find the portal door. They were stuck in the past and couldn’t afford food or rent cars because the currency they had was from the future. It was a whole mess. They were desperate to return to the future. So at first, even though they tried to hide from their father, they eventually had no choice but to reveal themselves, hoping he could help. Their father was shocked and thought they were intruders at first, but once Mazin showed him the same watch that his father was wearing, he realized it was his son from the future. Their father was emotional and eager to know all about them, but he was also willing to help them return to their timeline. They brainstormed and realized that if they could send a message by breaking the kitchen tiles, which had remained unchanged since their childhood, their mother might find the message and help them find the portal to get back to their time. It was a long shot, but they hoped it would work out.
How did their mother help them?
Sanna, their mother, was going insane at home. Her two boys were gone and weren’t responding to her calls or messages. So she called over their best friend, Rakan, to see if he knew anything. Together, they started watching old videos, and to their shock, they saw Mazin and Maan standing in one of the old videos! How could this be possible? It certainly wasn’t Photoshop. From the tiles, they found a letter explaining that Mazin and Maan had stranded themselves in the past through the portal. Sanna didn’t understand any of it, but Rakan remembered seeing the blue door in an old photograph of Mohammad, Sanna’s father-in-law.
As mentioned earlier, Sanna had had a strained relationship with Mohammad since he never showed any interest in knowing them or attending their wedding. But she set aside her ego for the sake of her children to get them back to the future and to learn about the secret of the blue door. When they reached Mohammad’s house, he told them the secret. It was a memory door that allowed people to go back to the past if they really wanted to, and that’s why Mazin and Maan went back there. It was understandable why the portal opened on that particular day—it was the same day they lost their father in the past. And do you know who was responsible for that? Mazin himself. As a little child, he had mistakenly turned on the gas, which set the house on fire, and to save him, his father risked his life. Knowing this, Sanna and Rakan filled the kitchen area before the blue door with water because they knew that in the past, which was happening simultaneously, the kitchen would be filled with fire. This would help save Mazin and Maan. And that’s exactly what happened. Maan came back to the future through the portal door once the fire started, but Mazin did not. He felt guilty and regretful, so he tried to save his father. But what happened in the past was bound to happen, and he couldn’t change that. Sanna knew this too, so she went through the portal door to the past to meet her husband. She held him in her arms as he died, then took Mazin’s hand and came back to the future. To Mazin and Maan, their mother was the real hero.
I really think that this time, Mazin and Maan finally realized how much their mother had sacrificed for them and was still willing to risk her life for the sake of her children. They realized it was high time they returned the favor. At least we hope so, as the film ended on a positive note, indicating that they were willing to let their mother marry happily, whether it was Emad or any other man she chose. But what about the portal? Well, for now, it seems to have closed, but who knows about the future? Maybe on special occasions like this, it will reopen again. We hope that this time, the two brothers will take precautions to handle the situation on their own.
