In Mumbai, sister Prabha’s routine is disrupted when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a place in the city where she can be intimate with her boyfriend. Director Payal Kapadia and the cast of All We Imagine As Light reunite to share their heartfelt reactions from Cannes and more. more!. The first Indian film to win the prestigious Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. This film dramatizes many of the challenges faced by single women living in Mumbai and highlights their resilience. All the women featured here are nurses in the same hospital, but the similarity ends there, as each has their own set of specific problems and, one might say, solutions. Desire, fear, regret and brazen patience are the emotions that constantly alternate as the story unfolds quietly. Perhaps the biggest draw is the screenplay, which offers unusually rich and thoughtful dialogues between the characters. The amount of action in the plot seems enough to provide a scaffolding for conversations in which people have the space to be unusually honest and unapologetic with each other, even when they’re lying or posing. The acting is equally excellent and lives up to the writing: there are no false notes, though there are a few irritating details. The cinematography and editing are also very good at creating a thoughtful and somewhat detached atmosphere, complementing a quiet intensity to the characters’ interactions. The alienation intensifies at several points where the film seems to incorporate documentary elements or at least creates that feeling. I haven’t always been crazy about the music and the way it’s sung, but it’s a minor gripe that many may not share. I take issue with another reviewer’s assertion that this film was intended to be “awards bait.” In my opinion, there is too much heart and honesty in this film to be called cynical or manipulative – certainly no more than any other film that seeks to tell an important story in a compelling and beautiful way. And it takes a lot of risks that I don’t think would be well received in an increasingly sectarian and puritanical India. I highly recommend “All That We Imagine as Light.”