'

All We Imagine as Light

Play trailer

1:58

All We Imagine as Light

Released Nov 15, 2024

1h 58m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

149 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated by writer/director Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival for her revelatory fiction feature debut. Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital--head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and recent hire Anu (Divya Prabha)--plus their coworker, cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), Kapadia's film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment. Prabha, her husband from an arranged marriage living in faraway Germany, is courted by a doctor at her hospital; Anu carries on a romance with a Muslim man, which she must keep a secret from her strict Hindu family; Parvaty finds herself dealing with a sudden eviction from her apartment. Kapadia captures the bustle of the metropolis and the open-air tranquility of a seaside village with equal radiance, articulated by her superb actresses and by the camera with a lyrical naturalism that occasionally drifts into dreamlike incandescence. All We Imagine as Light is a soulful study of the transformative power of friendship and sisterhood, in all its complexities and richness.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Capturing the here and now of modern India with the spontaneity of a candid photograph, All We Imagine as Light is a lustrous achievement that announces Payal Kapadia as an essential filmmaker.

Read Critics Reviews

Odie Henderson

Boston Globe

This is a very patient movie, filled with equally patient performances, lyrical camerawork and some stunning images of its characters residing within the frame. Kapadia’s screenplay builds fleshed out characters, even in the supporting roles.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 29, 2025

Full Review

Peter Travers

ABC News

In her first fiction feature, documentarian Payal Kapadia brings a poetic profundity to this cinematic spellbinder about female sisterhood in a big city (Mumbai) full of societal, economic and political pressures that can force out intimacy and dreams

Jan 10, 2025

Full Review

Stephen Romei

The Australian

This film plumbs the extraordinary emotions that hum and throb through ordinary life.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 3, 2025

Full Review

John Serba

Decider

The drama is strange and enthralling, and concludes with a final shot that holds and holds and holds and holds and holds on a potent portrait of joy and pain and longing that you won’t soon forget.

May 21, 2025

Full Review

Sean P. Means

The Movie Cricket

Kapadia captures, with the help of her engaging cast, the spectrum of attitudes of women in this beautiful country, striving to build a small piece of happiness amid the economic, religious and patriarchal limitations placed on them.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 11, 2025

Full Review

Fletcher Powell

KMUW - Wichita Public Radio

Like the best movies of this kind, and this is one of the best movies of this kind, the film is not entirely starry-eyed about what its city is...

Apr 17, 2025

Full Review

Read all reviews

Dave D

very slow moving with some great cinematography good acting some farrowing and sweet moments

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/13/25

Full Review

jeffrey s

beautiful shot film with some heartwarming performances, just felt the story got a little lost at the end.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/01/25

Full Review

Eva

Lovely tale of the intertwined lives of three women in Mumbai. I would make a point of seeing it if you can.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/12/24

Full Review

Roy J

Wasn't expecting half the movie to be about Mumbai then suddenly shift to a sea-side village. Excellent performances and direction. India should have submitted this for the Oscars

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/04/24

Full Review

Laldee

Beautiful atmospheric film about love and female friendship.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/25/24

Full Review

devdutt

well acted, good use of colour palette, some funny and poetic moments. seemingly gratuitous exposure of the body that felt awkward and contrived, slow meandering pace that seemed unnecessary. imagination as the light in a dark world is a character in the film. if youre into lingering meaningful glances this film is for you.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/24/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Payal Kapadia

Director

Kani Kusruti

Actor

Divya Prabha

Actor

Chhaya Kadam

Actor

Hridhu Haroon

Actor

Payal Kapadia

Screenwriter

Women Do Cry

75%

%

Women Do Cry

Watchlist

Banel & Adama

95%

%

Banel & Adama

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Banel & Adama

Jellyfish

89%

79%

Jellyfish

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Awards Leaderboard: Best Movies of 2024

Rotten Tomatoes Awards: Best Movies & TV Winners of 2024

The Brutalist Takes Best Film at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards

All We Imagine as Light: Trailer 1

1:58

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated by writer/director Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival for her revelatory fiction feature debut. Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital--head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and recent hire Anu (Divya Prabha)--plus their coworker, cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), Kapadia's film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment. Prabha, her husband from an arranged marriage living in faraway Germany, is courted by a doctor at her hospital; Anu carries on a romance with a Muslim man, which she must keep a secret from her strict Hindu family; Parvaty finds herself dealing with a sudden eviction from her apartment. Kapadia captures the bustle of the metropolis and the open-air tranquility of a seaside village with equal radiance, articulated by her superb actresses and by the camera with a lyrical naturalism that occasionally drifts into dreamlike incandescence. All We Imagine as Light is a soulful study of the transformative power of friendship and sisterhood, in all its complexities and richness.

Director: Payal Kapadia
Screenwriter: Payal Kapadia
Distributor: Sideshow / Janus Films
Production Co: Chalk and Cheese, Another Birth, arte France Cinéma, Les Films Fauves, Pulpa Film, BALDR Film, Petit Chaos
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Malayalam
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 15, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 4, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.1M
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)

Most Popular at Home Now