As horizon-expanding as travel has the potential to be, it’s simply impossible to go everywhere and see everything properly within one’s lifetime. There are a number of reasons for this sorry fact—time and budget, war and other tragedies. There’s also the reality that, no matter where you go and for how long, no matter who you pay, you’ll never quite experience a slice of life as a tourist in the way a resident does. For better and worse.
What if we told you there’s a supplement—not a replacement—for travel when any of the above constraints make you unable to see that place on your mind? And what if that supplement could be enjoyed from a comfortable seat, whether that be on your couch or in a theater? We think you know where we’re going with this: international films can transport you anywhere and expose you to cities and ways of life heretofore unknown. The best this year gave us glimpses of what life is like in Benin, Mumbai, Tehran, and more. Read on for our favorite international films.
All We Imagine As Light
Don’t let the slight tweeness of the name deter you, if you’re not into that sort of thing. This is a beautiful and warm piece of filmmaking that brings the viewer into the lives of a pair of roommates living in modern-day Mumbai. The two women are coworkers at a clinic, which is about where their similarities end. Prabha is older and married, although her husband has since migrated to Germany and hasn’t called her in over a year. The outgoing Anu, meanwhile, is swept up in a secret, forbidden love affair with a young Muslim man. It’s as much a character study of the city of Mumbai, the streets, restaurants, and public transportation of which are captured with great care, as it is of our two heroines, with the added bonus that they themselves travel in the back third of the film. When a colleague is priced out of the city, they help her move back to Ratnagiri, a remote seaside village a far cry from the rainy metropolis we’ve been steeping in. India is as vast as it is internally diverse, and what an introduction this is for those of us not yet lucky enough to go firsthand. —Charlie Hobbs, associate editor
Now playing: in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, streaming date unannounced
Look Back
Adapted from a one-shot from Tatsuki Fujimoto, the same creator as the high-octane and gory shonen manga Chainsaw Man, Look Back is a slightly unexpected and philosophically ambitious story on female friendship, vocation, and why art is worth creating. Clocking in at just under one hour, this film manages to deliver some of the most beautiful animation sequences of the year. The culmination is a complete bildungsroman for each of the two female leads, and a gut-wrenching third act that indulges in asking “what if” in response to regret. Director Kiyotaka Oshiyama doesn’t struggle under the yoke of crafting the vague and overwrought “strong female lead.” Instead, Fujino and Kyomoto are believably talented and arrogant, cruel and considerate, complicated and human. This immediately became one of my favorite coming-of-age films of the year, and with its sucker punch runtime, everyone can and should give it a stream. —Kat Chen, editorial assistant, destinations
Now playing: streaming on Prime Video
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