Yes, those are lens flares. They are a result of the florescent fixtures in the parking garage. Flares from incandescent lights manifest differently.
In the case of The Promise, I don't imagine they were intentional, as they are a dead giveaway that this is a low-budget, amateur movie. A DP for a big-budget production would have either replaced the lamps or shut them off and used his own lighting.
Professional DP's expend considerable time and effort to prevent lens flares during the shoot. Then the director adds them back in post, apparently because he's under the delusion that people will think he's "edgy". Subconsciously, all it really does is make the audience go, "Oh, yeah, this is just a movie. The director has just emphasized the fact that there was a camera present and thus interrupted my suspension of disbelief."
If that's what you want, all manner of lens flare effect libraries are available for AE.
