by Aldo Garcia

Does compassion mean anything to most people these days? Is self-affirmation worth the battle in an increasingly oppressive and apathetic world? What’s the value of “love” in a reality where sustenance is becoming harder and desires feel meaningless in the face of everything else?

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“All We Imagine as Light”, the Cannes Festival’s “Grand Prix” winner in 2024 and Sight and Sound’s movie of the year, isn’t interested in answering any of those questions. Not directly, at least. Instead, Payal Kapadia‘s sophomore work manages to do with genuine care what fiction does better than probably any other medium: it lets its characters pose those questions themselves, as the audience ponders by their side.

The story takes place in the city of Mumbai, where two nurses’ most personal struggles get intertwined. Prabha (Kani Kusruti), the more experienced of the two,...