All We Imagine as Light
Janus Films | Release Date: November 15, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
93
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
35
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyDec 6, 2024
It’s a film that feels like a long exhale, the moment of unburdening after a tight embrace. It’s beautiful. Read full review
100
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeDec 2, 2024
It’s a marvel of a movie, with something of the humanist poetry of Satyajit Ray or Edward Yang. And it’s all the more remarkable given that this is Kapadia’s first fiction feature (her 2021 debut film, the documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing, also picked up a prize in Cannes). What a talent. Read full review
100
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeDec 2, 2024
Beautifully shot by Ranabir Das, a cinematographer who apparently revels in the variety of artificial light sources, those scenes welcome us into the last act with a warm, satisfying hug. It is, however, Kapadia’s generous polyphonic engagement with Mumbai that sits most memorably in the brain. Read full review
100
Little White LiesJenna MahaleNov 28, 2024
The filmmaker’s renderings of desi girlhood are subtle but powerful, coming through in small details: the claw clips and medicine strips strewn about the apartment, tiny tattoos and even tinier, heart-shaped lingerie hardware, stolen moments under cover of darkness. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 22, 2024
This is sublime work, with poetry and prose in unerring balance, thanks to writer-director Payal Kapadia. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesJoshua RothkopfNov 15, 2024
A miraculously subtle piece of work. Read full review
100
The New YorkerJustin ChangNov 14, 2024
One of the year’s great movies, in any form, style, or language. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalZachary BarnesNov 14, 2024
What makes Ms. Kapadia so clearly an artist is her ability to let a scene breathe, to be patient but not ponderous, suffusing the film with atmosphere and unarticulated feeling. Read full review
100
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 14, 2024
One of the pleasures of Kapadia’s filmmaking is that she’s inviting you to discover her characters on their terms, which means embracing the inner and outer rhythms of their lives. Read full review
100
The Associated PressLindsey BahrNov 13, 2024
The film is a reminder of the transcendent power of cinema, even, and perhaps especially, when not all that much is happening. Read full review
100
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 28, 2024
Poignantly lyrical as a city symphony, it branches out for a sequel, when the characters abscond to the coast to figure out what to do: at once a respite and a reckoning, ghostly and mysterious. Read full review
100
BBCNicholas BarberMay 25, 2024
It is universal and emotional enough to hypnotise anyone who has been alone in a city, or been spellbound by a film on the subject. Read full review
100
VarietyJessica KiangMay 24, 2024
Just two features into her young career, Kapadia has established her rare talent for finding passages of exquisite poetry within the banal blank verse of everyday Indian life. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 24, 2024
There is a freshness and emotional clarity in Payal Kapadia’s Cannes competition selection, an enriching humanity and gentleness which coexist with fervent, languorous eroticism and finally something epiphanic in the later scenes and mysterious final moments. Read full review
100
IndieWireSophie Monks KaufmanMay 24, 2024
The beats of All We Imagine as Light are calibrated with hypnotic grace creating a rhythm that induces pure pleasure. Read full review
91
The PlaylistAnkit JhunjhunwalaMay 24, 2024
Kapadia’s gentle voice disguises her subversive spirit. Read full review
90
ABC NewsPeter TraversJan 10, 2025
In her first fiction feature, documentarian Payal Kapadia brings a poetic profundity to this cinematic spellbinder about female sisterhood in a big city (Mumbai) full of societal, economic and political pressures that can force out intimacy and kill the yearning to dream. Read full review
90
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 15, 2024
Kapadia, as masterful a filmmaker as they come, is happy to let viewers wonder where these stories will intersect, and how they’ll collide into or off of each other. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 15, 2024
Through her mesmerizing filmmaking, Kapadia creates a world that didn’t seem possible — which, of course, reinforces how imaginary this new place might prove to be. The film may end on notes of joy, but what lingers is more sadness. Read full review
90
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 14, 2024
High among the film’s many standout virtues is how fully Kapadia has captured the faces of this trio. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerMay 24, 2024
There’s plenty of sadness here, but also lots of humor and female camaraderie. Read full review
90
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganMay 24, 2024
Two strong performances root the film. Prabha’s role is to be the anchor to Anu’s flightiness; they modulate their performances well together, but are equally strong apart. Read full review
89
Paste MagazineRory DohertyNov 14, 2024
All We Imagine as Light is both admirably restrained and deliberately poetic, painting its constrained women with nuance and empathy, before they light up a narrow path out of liminality. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonJan 22, 2025
This is a very patient movie, filled with equally patient performances, lyrical camerawork and some stunning images of its characters residing within the frame. Read full review
88
Washington PostTy BurrDec 12, 2024
Making her fictional feature debut as a writer-director, Kapadia unveils a storytelling style that whispers rather than shouts and whose empathy for the unseen women among us is a balm to the soul. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyNov 15, 2024
The darkness of "All We Imagine as Light" isn't darkness at all. The darkness is filled with light. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineRyan ColemanMay 28, 2024
Writer-director Payal Kapadia has created an exceptional document of a city and its people. Read full review
86
Paste MagazineNatalia KeoganSep 11, 2024
Touching upon (but never proselytizing about) matters of misogyny, religion, caste and gentrification, All We Imagine as Light exudes unwavering naturalism, undoubtedly influenced by the filmmaker’s documentary background. Read full review
83
The Film StageLuke HicksMay 28, 2024
All We Imagine as Light may not transcend form or style the way Kapadia did in her first feature––perhaps the only thing they share is dreamy titles––but that doesn’t make it any less transcendent. If anything, this is a more universal transcendence, one predicated on the strength of being together, the innate spark in people, and the potential we all have to see everyone as someone. Read full review
80
EmpireGavia Baker-WhitelawDec 2, 2024
Writer/director Payal Kapadia delivers a memorable and compassionate slice-of-life drama, making a clear statement about the constraints faced by working-class women in India.   Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesDec 12, 2024
Small in its movements and thoughtful in its observations, All We Imagine As Light is quietly resonant – so quiet you might wonder if it has much impact. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubJacob OllerNov 14, 2024
Kapadia’s skill lies in her ability to interweave moments of hope into the anxiety. Her leads offer tenderness and pull back into self-protectiveness in equal measure. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiNov 15, 2024
It’s the little moments and details that turn it into something more profound and lovely. Read full review
70
ColliderEmma KielyOct 15, 2024
The destination is worth the journey, and it offers a viewing experience that feels earned in the end Read full review
70
The Film VerdictClarence TsuiMay 24, 2024
[Kapadia’s] delicate touch remains very much the same, as she offers a gentle but clear critique of the challenges faced by women in India today. Read full review
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