All We Imagine as Light is a political film that has many smart and moving things to say about the loneliness of migrating from the country to the city, the double standards women face on the daily, and the ever-widening gap between the rich and poor. But thanks to director Payal Kapadia’s deft hands, these weighty themes don’t hit you like a brick in the face. Intertwined in the rich inner lives of the two Malayali nurses and the Marathi cook who lead the film, they come off as subtle and poetic, like everything else about the film. There’s a quiet power at work here, and it will entrance you till the end.
"One of the year’s great movies, in any form, style, or language."
— Justin Chang
"Kapadia’s film precisely captures the realism of the particular romantic chaos native to Mumbai: a warm, heady place where desire, tradition, shame, and pride are in constant negotiation with one another."
— Jenna Mahale
In Mumbai, Nurse Prabha's routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a spot in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest.
Two Malayali nurses try to make it in the bustling city of Mumbai despite the many obstacles that come their way. Among them are an absent husband, a forbidden interfaith romance, and a doomed battle against real-estate developers.
It’s disappointing the Film Federation of India blocked this film from being submitted to the Oscars, where it had a real shot of winning Best International Feature.
This movie deserved its Cannes Grand Prix award, and maybe even more.
Cannes
1 win
Golden Globes
2 nominations
BAFTA
1 nomination
DGA
1 nomination
Spirit Awards
1 nomination
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
NYFCC
1 win
LAFCA
1 win
