All We Imagine as Light (BFI LFF Review) – we are never really alone, no matter how bad things may seem

All We Imagine as Light screened at BFI London Film Festival and is playing in selected cinemas starting November 2024.

Among the many musings that Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light ponders on, the most provocative is how connection can bring us closer to our purpose. Whether we are religious, agnostic, rich, poor, or otherwise, we have all, at one point or another, wondered what our purpose is in life, whether our way of thinking or our actions are, in fact, alienating us instead of creating a sense of belonging. Kapadia explores these anxieties through her film, turning in a soulful product that grows on you the more you dwell on it.

Set in modern-day Mumbai, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are nurses who work in the same hospital and live together in a small flat. This is an unusual arrangement as they are from different generations – Prabha is middle-aged, and Anu seems fresh out of school – and holds vastly different beliefs. This is reflected in their relationships, with Prabha entering an arranged marriage years ago while Anu sneaks off to see the dashing Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon) in her free evenings. They could not be more different and passive towards each other, but nonetheless, palpable tension exists between them.

Both have complications in their relationships. Anu’s parents are strict Hindus who want her to pick a man of their choosing for an arranged marriage. They would never approve of Anu’s affection for Shiaz, a Muslim with no serious prospects. Meanwhile, Prabha’s husband is away working in Germany, and it has been so long with zero contact that the marriage is essentially all but over. While they both navigate their conflicts individually, their paths will bring them to an inevitable collision.

What makes All We Imagine as Light so compelling in retrospect is how much it refuses to engage in melodrama. Rather than manufacture contrived squabbles between the pair, the film simply lets its characters live, the conflict coming from their ideological differences. Despite taking place in Mumbai and being partially funded by India, the film bears little resemblance to the legendary, prolific pictures of Bollywood. Instead of ambitious song and dance sequences or epic runtimes, the film is much more subdued and far less fantastical; it is spiritually closer to the Apu trilogy of the 50s. This imbues Kapadia’s direction with a quiet somberness that reflects the inner turmoils that the characters wrestle with but rarely share.

That Prabha and Anu are so characteristically different from each other – Prabha is a middle-aged traditionalist and Anu a young, rebellious individualist – embodies many of the contrasts and collisions the film portrays in its text and subtext. The pair eventually take a road trip with fellow nurse Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), taking them away from the city’s bustling streets and towering buildings to the tranquil emptiness of a rural village. It’s a nice change of setting but also highlights an irony that strengthens the story’s emotional resonance. While the city is filled with thousands, if not millions, of people, they barely know each other and infrequently connect. In contrast, the rural village is tiny and sparsely populated but full of camaraderie.

Kapadia and team use these contrasts to enhance the themes and our immersion. When the women are navigating the city, hiding their woes from each other and living by their differing beliefs, the cinematography gorgeously captures the juxtaposing vastness and claustrophobia of the city, its lights penetrating the darkness but bringing no one closer together. Close-ups of the characters show just how alone they are despite the life that surrounds them. The filmmaking always places the humanity of its heroines front and centre, as the score brims and soothes alongside the scenes. You feel as though you are living the lives of the characters alongside them, even as they wrestle with the validity of their beliefs and find themselves gradually drawing towards each other. Its poignancy and sentimentality are entirely natural and all-consuming.

Beautifully filmed, if at times a bit too slow in its pace, All We Imagine as Light ultimately works as a celebration and reaffirmation of the importance of connection. The more time Prabha and Anu spend together, figuring out their romantic relationships and how they shape their convictions, the more they begin to understand their respective perspectives, thus bringing them closer to the purpose that they seek. It’s a film that highlights the therapeutic nature of empathy, honesty and genuine companionship, resulting in a resonant picture whose emotional beats grow stronger over time. Through this, the characters grow on us, and we find ourselves deeply invested in how their relationships with their partners and with each other will resolve themselves, all anchored by terrifically humanistic performances by Kusruti and Prabha, whose dynamic with each other carries us from the mystifying opening to the heartwarming finale.

All We Imagine as Light may not work for everyone who sees it – it’s a very gradual film to the point of occasionally feeling meandering. Yet, the feelings of insecurity and loss that the characters experience throughout the story are treated with kindness and understanding through stellar filmmaking and humanist convictions. It’s a beguiling cinematic experience that reassures viewers that we are never really alone, no matter how bad things may seem.