All We Imagine As Light (2024) (Janus Contemporaries, Criterion Collection)

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Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed fiction-feature debut is a radiant ode to hope-giving connections forged amid big-city anonymity. Set against the hypnotic luminescence of Mumbai, All We Imagine as Light follows three very different women working at the same hospital—Prabha (Kani Kusruti), Anu (Divya Prabha), and Parvathy (Chhaya Kadam)—each contending with personal and material struggles amid a modernizing India riven by gentrification and rising Hindu nationalism. When eviction drives Parvathy back to her childhood village, the trio embark on an enchanting getaway by the sea, where they shake loose their remaining secrets and—in one otherworldly sequence—a lingering ghost. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, All We Imagine as Light is a deep-rooted study of the fortifying power of friendship, propelled by moving performances and the director’s compassionate eye.