User Reviews

'All We Imagine As Light' is an evocative portrait of a megacity like Bombay and a group of women who resist the dictates of a patriarchal system; through sisterhood and their unwavering desire for individuality, we connect with their desires and frustration. Payal Kapadia delivers an honest portrayal of the city, including the voracity of rampant urban development that demands so much of the underprivileged while giving them nothing. A true masterpiece that expresses the feeling of standing still, waiting for something to happen.

"All We Imagine as Light" locates dreamlike reverie in emotional shifts and everyday experiences. Moving from urban bustle to seaside idyll, this exquisitely beautiful and heartfelt fiction feature debut from Payal Kapadia (A Night of Knowing Nothing) follows two nurses experiencing personal turning points tinged with the possibility of romance. Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are roommates and nurses at a Mumbai hospital. Prabha is married, but her husband went abroad to work many years ago. Now drifting into middle age, she focuses on her job. Anu, by contrast, is young and full of dreams for her future, which she hopes will include the handsome Muslim boy she’s secretly seeing. Prabha initially regards the potentially scandalous affair as an annoyance, but she comes to sympathize with Anu’s passion, perhaps because she, too, feels the tug of frustrated ardour, thanks to the attentions of a poetry-writing doctor. When Prabha’s friend Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) is evicted from her home by heartless developers, she decides to return to the coastal village of her youth. Prabha and Anu tag along for a holiday. Far from the city’s perpetual clamour, the women’s feelings and sense of life’s possibilities are given free rein. Working again with cinematographer Ranabir Das, Kapadia crafts exquisite beauty from images as simple as people wending through a crowded marketplace or women retrieving laundry from a rooftop clothesline. Yet for all the rapturous visuals, nothing in this heartfelt film is more striking than seeing Prabha and Anu forging their connection. Their sisterhood emerges slowly and is all the more moving for its measured pace.

Tem muito charme na fotografia, realmente é um filme que visualmente se destaca, mas o roteiro não me pegou nem um pouco, é uma vibe meio deprê masturbatória, cansativa, e muito sem gracinha. Pelo visto até alguns dos críticos lá não foram mjuito com a cara, para não o elegerem representante da Índia, um cinema do qual muito pouco me agrada, mas que ao menos aqui tem alguns bons momentos e só. Parece mais um projeto pessoal mesmo, ainda que tecnicamente melhor do que a média por lá, mas com uma história fraquinha, fraquinha.

Invariably, there’s always one film release each year that’s vastly and inexplicably overrated, both in terms of critical acclaim and awards season recognition, and this disappointing, tediously paced slog tops my list of candidates for 2024. Writer-director Payal Kapadia’s examination of contemporary working class conditions in Mumbai follows the stories of three women who struggle with getting by financially, vocationally and personally, all of them having relocated to the city from their rural roots in search of illusory, overpromised opportunities. The picture has been widely praised for its gentle treatment of its subject, along with its sensitive and nuanced handling of its principals’ lives. To me, however, this is a politely euphemistic way of saying it’s boring (I can’t recall how many times I checked my watch during the screening I attended). Moreover, this offering tries unsuccessfully to cover too much ground (and not very well at that), including an array of topics ranging from loneliness to fiscal hardship to gentrification to outmoded traditions and more. I also don’t find this offering to be especially groundbreaking in terms of its subject matter; its themes of working class struggles and personal isolation, in my estimation, are addressed far more effectively in other Indian films like “The Lunchbox” (2013) and “Fire in the Mountains” (2021), which present more compelling and more engaging treatments of their stories (watch those pictures instead). On top of all this, there are some narrative elements that don’t feel sufficiently fleshed out or that are either implausible or woefully executed surrealistically (it’s subtlety often makes it hard to tell which is truly the case). Admittedly, the film’s aesthetics, such as its cinematography, have much going for them, but they’re not nearly enough to make up for the picture’s larger and more significant shortcomings. At the risk of being ridiculed, I truly don’t believe “All We Imagine as Light” is rightfully worthy of the many accolades it has received from the Golden Globe Awards, the Critics Choice Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, the National Board of Review, and the Cannes and Chicago Film Festivals, among others. With so many other (and better) international film offerings out there, it’s regrettable that these competitions and festivals have squandered nominations and awards on this needlessly hyped undercooked release.

A brilliant sensitive portrayal of 2 nurses in Mumbai dealing with the travails of life. If you want a fast paced thriller, this is not for you. But if you are interested in the problems faced by real people and their efforts to confront them, then go see this ****'s simple ending was almost magical in its impact.

Boring and totally overrated. Cannes must have had a bad year to award this movie.

It's good movie, great storyline, solid performances from the cast members and it was enjoyable.