Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light is a hypnotic film where slowness serves as a means to penetrate human experience. Rooted in a documentary sensibility, her direction invites the viewer into a visual universe of vivid yet soft colors, rendering each emotional nuance tangible. This film is not merely cinematic but poetic, an oneiric journey between reality and imagination, solitude and connection.
Through three intertwined stories, the film reveals urban contradictions, where life oscillates between frenetic rhythms and moments of suspension. Prabha, Anu, and Parvaty navigate a world marked by class injustices, religious tensions, and power dynamics. Yet, Kapadia avoids turning the film into a social manifesto; her gaze remains intimate and attentive to the nuances of everyday experience.
A key strength of All We Imagine as Light is its seamless integration of the political and personal. Rather than merely depicting societal struggles, it explores the protagonists’ responses, hesitations, and unrealized desires. The film introduces characters contending with broad social problems while also delving into their individual trajectories, allowing the audience to experience the emotional depth behind each choice.
The camera lingers on details: shadows stretching across faces, blurred city lights reflecting in eyes, small gestures that speak volumes. The film’s magic lies in this apparent lightness, floating between dream and reality. Mumbai, with its chaos and elusive beauty, becomes a character—a crossroads of destinies and unresolved desires.
Prabha is trapped in a ghost marriage, bound to a husband she has neither seen nor heard from in years. Her solitude is reflected in her measured gestures, her gaze briefly brightening at the possibility of new affection. In contrast, Anu is impulsive, young, and full of immediate desires: her secret relationship with Shiaz defies familial and societal pressures, despite the risks. Parvaty, meanwhile, faces eviction from her home of two decades, emblematic of the vulnerability of widowed women without legal protection. Together, they form a triptych spanning past, present, and future, illustrating facets of the female condition in India.
The film is structured in two segments—first in Mumbai, then in a coastal village—mirroring the protagonists’ inner journeys. Only after leaving the urban frenzy can they confront their emotions. This shift is marked by a visual transformation: the city is depicted with cold lighting and confined spaces, while the village is warmer and more expansive, evoking a near-magical suspension of time. Here, the film subtly introduces magical realism, enhancing its message without feeling contrived.
Kapadia navigates the boundaries between documentary and fiction, realism and symbolism, evoking the styles of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Chantal Akerman. Her storytelling relies on omission, letting images convey meaning: a projection of light on a face, a billowing sheet, a passing train. The piano-driven soundtrack underscores this contemplative dimension, accentuating the characters’ emotions.
All We Imagine as Light is not merely a film to watch but an experience to live—an immersive, introspective journey that lingers beyond the screening. With rare narrative elegance, Kapadia illustrates how, even in a world of uncertainty, light can emerge—if only we imagine it.
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