Philly Film Fest Fast Review: All We Imagine As Light

By: Justin Nordell

The 33rd annual Philadelphia Film Festival runs October 17-27, 2024 and features over 100 films this year. Most films play twice and our own Justin Nordell will be sharing “Philly Film Fest Fast Reviews” to give you a taste of the festival so you can pick and choose which films to make for the second screenings!

Mumbai nurses Prabha and Anu may be coworkers and roommates, but they could not be more different. Prabha (Kani Kusruti, Girls Will Be Girls also playing this year’s festival) is older and more reserved, having been wed long ago through an arranged marriage, but her husband has been away for work in Germany for many years. Anu (Divya Prabha, Declaration streaming on Netflix) is younger and more gregarious, unmarried but only because she is Hindu and the love of her life Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon, Thugs) is Muslim, forcing them to sneak around. While Anu succumbs to her desires, Prabha’s desire only grows after hearing from her husband for the first time in over a year when he mails her… a rice cooker. Romance isn’t dead after all, leaving Prabha to clutch the cold machine as if it were her cold husband. 

As Prabha and Anu’s relationships heat up and cool down outside of their control, they both get caught up in the plight of another co-worker Parvatay (Chhaya Kadam, Sister Midnight also playing the festival). Her home is being displaced by new construction and while she has another house by the water, she should not be forced to leave her home and move out of Mumbai. 

The city of Mumbai itself is the fourth main character of All We Imagine As Light. Stunningly shot by Director of Photography Ranabir Das in his feature narrative film debut, this is some of the best the city has ever looked on film, capturing its vibrancy day and especially at night. 

It’s hard to call a film that won the prestigious Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival a hidden gem, but with its slowly unfurling beauty and rich characters, All We Imagine As Light feels like just that. It hasn’t gotten nearly the press or attention it deserves at the 33rd Philadelphia Film Festival, so let me say that this is one of the top three films of the festival for me and a must see in a theater. 

Grade: A
Catch it at PFF33: Wednesday, October 23rd at 6:00pm at the PFS East
Tickets Available Here: https://prod5.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/ticketsearchcriteria.aspx?evtinfo=429892