 University of Berlin film scholar Claudia Kotte wrote the film, along with "Monsieur Lazhar" (2011) and "War Witch" (2012), represent a break in the Cinema of Quebec from focus on local history to global concerns, with "Incendies" adding Oedipal themes.Authors Gada Mahrouse, Chantal Maillé and Daniel Salée wrote McCraw and Déry's films, "Incendies", "Monsieur Lazhar" and "Inch'Allah", depict Quebec as part of the global village and as accepting minorities, particularly Middle Easterners or "Muslim Others".Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars, saying "it wants to be much more than a thriller and succeeds in demonstrating how senseless and futile it is to hate others because of their religion", and Azabal "is never less than compelling".