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The Lunchbox

2013, Drama/Romance, 1h 45m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Warm, affectionate, and sweet but not cloying, The Lunchbox is a clever crowd-pleaser from first-time director Ritesh Batra. Read critic reviews

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The lunchbox photos.

Lonely housewife Ila (Nimrat Kaur) decides to try adding some spice to her stale marriage by preparing a special lunch for her neglectful husband. Unfortunately, the delivery goes astray and winds up in the hands of Saajan (Irrfan Khan), an irritable widower. Curious about her husband's lack of response, Ila adds a note to the next day's lunchbox, and thus begins an unusual friendship in which Saajan and Ila can talk about their joys and sorrows without ever meeting in person.

Rating: PG (Thematic Material|Smoking)

Genre: Drama, Romance

Original Language: Hindi

Director: Ritesh Batra

Producer: Arun Rangachari , Anurag Kashyap , Guneet Monga

Writer: Ritesh Batra

Release Date (Theaters): Feb 28, 2014 limited

Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2014

Box Office (Gross USA): $4.2M

Runtime: 1h 45m

Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Production Co: Arte France Cinema, National Film Development of India, Sikhya Entertainment

Cast & Crew

Irrfan Khan

Saajan Fernandes

Nimrat Kaur

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Aslam Shaikh

Denzil Smith

Bharati Achrekar

Mrs. Deshpande

Ila's Husband

Lillete Dubey

Ila's Mother

Yashvi Puneet Nagar

Ritesh Batra

Screenwriter

Arun Rangachari

Anurag Kashyap

Guneet Monga

Lydia Dean Pilcher

Executive Producer

Michael Simmonds

Cinematographer

John F. Lyons

Film Editing

Max Richter

Original Music

Shruti Gupte

Production Design

Niharika Khan

Costume Design

Seher Latif

News & Interviews for The Lunchbox

Five Essential Irrfan Khan Movies

Critics Consensus: Non-Stop is a Bumpy Ride

Critic Reviews for The Lunchbox

Audience reviews for the lunchbox.

The Lunchbox is a moving drama with a gentle touch. The story and characters feel simple and real, pensive but not melancholy. The film is about two people trying to make a connection in a world of tension and contradiction. Indian metropolitan culture presents as bustling and quiet, crowded with great distance, its people being wistful yet responsible. The Lunchbox is a very relatable film and one I believe to have universal appeal.

A warm, melancholy drama that enchants and moves us even more thanks to the way that its three-dimensional characters reveal so much about themselves between the lines - and it is only a pity, though, that it drags a bit in the third act and ends in a rather frustrating conclusion.

Feel-good drama mixing the chaotic and spacious.

'The Lunch Box' (2014) is the genial and sensible debut film of Ritesh Batra which takes place in India. It's a nice slice-of-life story that follows the subtle neglected lives of two different people who are misguidedly brought together through a lunchbox. Even for how slow-paced this film can be, it is ultimately saved by impeccable performances and genuine dialogue. There are many cases where films ensure languid camera movements that just seem to go on and on with not much happening. However, with the 'The Lunch Box' (2014) almost every minute of languid camera time gives direct details, whether it's cultural or for a character's depth-real characters, real situations.

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the lunchbox: old school anonymity softens new world discontent.

Only a few times in my life have I wanted to re-watch a movie right away. Ritesh Batra ’s first feature, “The Lunchbox” (2013) hooked me within the first act. Imagine the life you live, when a short note of a few lines becomes your daily thrill. Here, we follow the quiet lives of disconnected people reaching across the urban noise of Mumbai, reaching for anyone who would listen. Centering around food, its is a seamless fusion of Satyajit Ray and Nora Ephron , with hints of Akira Kurosawa . Overall, it reminds me that as our cities get more crowded, we get more lonely.

Ila ( Nimrat Kaur ) cooks lunch for her mostly absent husband ( Nakul Vaid ). An aunty ( Bharati Achrekar ) mentors her on cooking from the apartment above. Through cooking, she mentors her on life, always ready with the perfect recipe for every situation. Ila packs the daily lunch, and hands it over to a delivery man who takes it to a brigade of trains and bicyclists, to her husband’s desk. One day, however, the lunch reaches a stranger.

Saajan ( Irrfan Khan ) sits at a large desk in a large firm, processing claims with that mechanical, abrasive coldness of Kenji Watanabe (from “ Ikiru ”). Set for retirement, he must train the new-hire, the obsequious Shaikh ( Nawazuddin Siddiqui ), who keeps barging into his personal space. Saajan has his noon meal delivered through a local service, but today he receives Ila’s box, as he does tomorrow, and the next day.

Through these lunchboxes, Ila sends short letters to Saajan, first commenting that the lunches are for her husband, not him. He responds, first commenting on her cooking, which is one day tasty, and another too salty. In these short correspondences, they share reflections, then secrets, then hopes, looking forward to the daily note hiding in the tin, rather than considering the food itself. Those two minutes become the highlight of the day for them, freeing them from the mundane routines.

The big city speaks through the mix of human chatter and motor vehicles. Beneath the sounds, it relies on stability through bureaucracy, which itself relies on the enforcement of routine. Day after day. Week after week. Fiscal year after fiscal year. Two generations ago, in Ray’s “Mahanagar” (1963) families sought to join the industrial machine. To become part of the system is to have income, which yields a good life. Now, as the same machine compresses people together, allowing them to get lost as anonymous voyeurs, lost in experiments in disloyalty (including emotional and physical affairs), this current generation seeks to escape to something fulfilling, perhaps in the world of old.

Iñárritu explored such urban loneliness in “ Babel ” (2006), connecting disparate peoples across the world through the passing and use of a rifle. In that film, the characters were unable to communicate, resulting in a crowded world full of language barriers and silences. In Mendes’ “ Revolutionary Road ” (2008), we watch a couple fantasize about the American Dream, first as a way to find direction, then as a way to avoid reality. In Bahrani’s “Man Push Cart” (2005) we watch New Yorkers meeting for bagels and coffee, meeting for drinks, while maintaining a distance from each other. In Ephron’s movies, we follow couples who meet via distant relationships before letting fate bring them together. Here, we watch one man who grieves through Bollywood reruns, a woman who longs for a smile from the husband who seems to drown himself in work, an orphan who hustles his way through his projects and marriage, and exhausted dutiful women who stay by their ill husbands’ bedsides. In all of these cases, we see yearning; unquenched thirst for something as simple as a hug. We witness so many relationships, so many smiles, yet so much loneliness.

Part of the joy in this film is the wholesome goodness of almost all the characters. I like watching them because—even the ones with sharp edges in their dispositions—they lack malice. Rather, they are contending with a system far, far greater than them, be it the impositions of city life, or something even greater, like mortality.

Further, a few points in Batra’s work really stand out. He directs eyes so well, as each of the characters think and process. Kaur pauses. Her eyes glance from side to side as she reflects. Khan’s eyes have a fixed, reserved expression in every moment. Siddiqui stares, grinning. His script bounces so well across time within scenes adding dimensions to moments already emotive. The characters relish in flourishes, in the way they might chew words before speaking, or fold their legs as they sit, or even close a window. Those extra steps give this film a life that in other movies might be distracting. Here, the film takes its time to unfold each scene slowly, in an environment always reliant on speed.

And that slow, deliberate unfolding recalls the film’s implicit lesson: take a moment to give or receive a favor, enjoying the taste in every morsel. Better than that, cultivate your relations, with old school care and compassion. Otherwise, as we race against time, we always lose.

Omer M. Mozaffar

Omer M. Mozaffar teaches at Loyola University Chicago, where he is the Muslim Chaplain, teaching courses in Theology and Literature. He has given thousands of talks on Islam since 9/11. He is also a Hollywood Technical Consultant for productions on matters related to Islam, Arabs, South Asians.

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The Lunchbox Parent Guide

Food for the soul..

A lonely wife (Nimrat Kaur) and a man tired of the world (Irrfan Khan) make an unexpected connection with each other when a mix up is made with the delivery of a lunchbox. Set in Mumbai, this film is in English and Hindi with English subtitles.

Run Time: 105 minutes

Official Movie Site

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kerry bennett.

The way to a man’s heart may be through his stomach—but that’s more challenging if his heart is already roaming. Ila (Nimrat Kaur) knows things aren’t going well in her marriage so she decides to spice it up by preparing her husband’s favorite foods for lunch. She puts the items in a multi-tiered metal lunch kit and hands it over to the Mumbai Dabbawala lunchbox delivery service. Unexpectedly, the meal is mistakenly dropped off at the wrong address.

Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan), a widowed accountant nearing retirement, can’t believe how good his lunch tastes. Since the death of his wife he has ordered his midday meal from a nearby restaurant that also uses the lunchbox delivery service. The day after the delicious food, Saajan finds a note from Ila in the tiffin. She explains the meal was meant for her husband. Saajan responds by telling her how good it was. So rather than correct the mistake, Ila continues to prepare food that is delivered to Saajan. And along with the lunch, the pair begins exchanging messages.

As their relationship grows, the two finally decide to meet. But on the designated day, Saajan fails to show up.

This sub-titled film contains depictions of smoking and relatively minor amounts of sexual content. (It is implied a man is groped on a crowded bus and that another is involved in an affair.) However, the theme of the screenplay centers on unhappy unions, not only Ila’s but also many others that suffer through loveless relationships while caring for sick husbands or choosing suicide as an escape. The only happy couple portrayed in the movie is a young pair who is living together. Laying out the joyless plight of her life, the script carefully justifies Ila’s decision to become involved with another man—even if it is only through the written word. Unfortunately it also makes it seem that most wedded women in India are sorrowful.

Still, The Lunchbox is beautifully made romance, which depicts fresh faces and landscapes. It ingeniously uses letters rather than lots of dialogue to tell the story. As well, it gives North American audiences a look into the everyday dynamics of a different culture and its exotic foods.

About author

Kerry Bennett

The lunchbox rating & content info.

Why is The Lunchbox rated PG? The Lunchbox is rated PG by the MPAA for thematic material and smoking.

Violence: There is talk about a woman who committed suicide by jumping from a tall building with her child. A man appears to be stealing supplies from the office.

Sexual Content: It is implied that an old woman is groping a man on a crowded train. A woman discovers her husband is involved in an affair. A couple lives together because her father will not give his blessing for their marriage. They are later married.

Language: None noted.

Alcohol / Drug Use :The main character smokes on numerous occasions, although he tries at one point to stop smoking. A man suffers and dies from lung cancer.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

The Lunchbox Parents' Guide

The dabbawala lunchbox delivery service employs hundreds of people and delivers millions of lunches every day.

What are portrayed as Ila’s options in this movie? Why do you think so many unhappy marriages are depicted? Is there any indication that a new relationship would be any happier in the future?

What kind of relationship does Ila share with her upstairs neighbor? How might divorce laws be different in India? What challenges might be facing a woman who wants to leave her marriage?

The most recent home video release of The Lunchbox movie is July 1, 2014. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: The Lunchbox

Release Date: 8 July 2014

The Lunchbox releases to home video in a Combo Pack (Blu-ray and DVD), with the following extras:

- Commentary track with writer/director Ritesh Batra.

Where to Watch

Irrfan Khan

Saajan fernandes.

Nimrat Kaur

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Lillete Dubey

Ila's mother.

Bharti Achrekar

Yashvi puneet nagar.

Denzil Smith

Shruti Bapna

Ila's father, duke's owner, sadashiv kondaji pokarkar, dabbawallah at ila's house, aarti rathod, saajan's neighbor, krishna bai, toothless woman, raj rishi more, ila's brother, santosh kumar chaurasiya, autorickshaw driver, avijit khanwilkar, young man in train, aakash sinha, autorickshaw 2, xavier hodges, very old couple, rosemary hodges, critic reviews.

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The Lunchbox

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Dr Rao 7411 729 days ago

A movie that sets one thinking, a must-watch movie, looks as if it is just the exchange of a lunch box but then, it is much more! The lunch box mediates in building a relationship between two unknown people--one an elderly widower living alone & the other, the enthusiastic housewife who sends the lunch box! In the course of time, exchange of letters take place through the lunch box & builds the emotional bonding between the two, till there comes a time when the housewife discovers that her husband is into an illicit relationship & decides to leave him & relocate to Bhutan with her child! Sharing this plan with Sajjan, who has been receiving the lunch box meant for her husband, sets Sajjan thinking if he can join her on her plans of moving to Bhutan! The hesitation he has in meeting her at the restaurant is very much a reflection of the reality he is exposed to, that she is young & he is too old for her! He decides to leave her life but unable to do so, returns to the his residence, despite the fact that he had boarded a train to Nashik! The kids asking him why he is back is a question that obviously comes to everyone's mind! Ila the housewife is all set to leave for Bhutan with the return of her child from school & Sajjan is shown looking for her home, hopefully they meet & carry on together in the journey of life! It is a question of companionship for each other that needs to be addressed! A well made story with a beautiful concept that looks beyond body & looks! The emotional bonding is all that matters in any relationship is what the audience learns from the movie! Kudos to the entire crew!

svrshedage 819 days ago

Would say it truly is meant for the Clever Audience and not for the ones hoping for 'Masala' kind of a thing , cuz It's spice if to be experienced and thought about as you travel with the trains and taste the tastes of her lunches and the emotions in their subtle letters ........ ��

Satyanarayana Devabhaktuni 1083 days ago

Wonderful movie. Heart touching. Performance of Irfan, Nimratand Nawazuddin is superlative. I doubt if any other artists would have done better. Direction is world class. In the class of Satyajit Ray, almost. 

Ravi Chintala 1130 days ago

Amazingly awesome

Deepanshu Arora 90 1323 days ago

Lovely work by Irrfan Khan. A must watch movie! Both the actors have done a fantastic job!

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The Lunchbox (2013) Movie Review: Exceptional Epistolary Drama

The Lunchbox (2013) movie review: In his engrossing feature film debut, screenwriter-director Ritesh Batra weaves a “socio-romantic” narrative that connects a married woman seeking her husband’s attention, a despondent widower about to quit his job, and Mumbai’s peripatetic dabbawalas .

The Lunchbox (2013) movie review: First-time feature director Ritesh Batra’s excellent Indian drama merited Oscar recognition

The Lunchbox / Dabba was not the Film Federation of India’s submission for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award . This was reported as controversial at the time, notably in the Indian film community. The Film Federation chose instead Gyan Correa’s The Good Road , which failed to be shortlisted by the Academy.

We have not seen The Good Road , but it better be really good; otherwise, the harsh criticism of the Film Federation of India will be justified: Writer-director Ritesh Batra’s debut feature, The Lunchbox is an exceptional film, crafted to present an India that is profoundly traditional yet “emotionally modern,” with characters engaged in deep reflection on the past and the deepest consideration of the future.

True, The Lunchbox might also have been bypassed by the Academy’s Best Foreign Language Film voters, who, for various disqualifying reasons, missed a number of films that ought to have been in competition, among them Gloria, Blue Is the Warmest Color, In the Fog , and Touch of Sin . Even so, Batra’s drama would have been a worthy competitor among this year’s somewhat vexing selection of the world’s best films.

In any case, The Lunchbox should certainly get a shot at filmgoer’s wallets, particularly those who appreciate quality movies.

Miraculous delivery system

In Mumbai, the decades-old system for delivering lunch to thousands of office workers in the city’s densely populated business district is legendary.

As pointed out in The Lunchbox , Harvard management experts have studied the low-tech system to understand its efficacy, which involves hundreds of delivery men ( dabbawalas ) collecting hand-packed lunches, whether made at home or in restaurants, in specially designed “tins”; the transit of these tins by bike, scooter, and train; and their timely delivery to the individual desks of specific recipients, all by the lunch hour.

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Later on, there’s the safe return of these lunchboxes to their proper homes well before the workers’ return at the end of the day.

It is an astounding feat, executed on a daily basis, with nary a lunchbox lost or misdelivered. Until this movie.

The unthinkable happens

As The Lunchbox opens, Mumbai’s dabbawalas crisscross the city picking up tins in brightly colored carrying bags they dangle precariously off their bikes and scooters as they make their way through the city.

Meanwhile, Ila (beautiful and talented Nimrat Kaur) prepares a meal with great care with the assistance of her upstairs neighbor whom she calls Auntie, as all young women refer to older women in traditional India. We never see Auntie; she is a voice who calls down from on high (literally) with sage wisdom and who delivers special ingredients for Ila’s prepared meals via a basket tied to a string.

Once the dabbawala arrives, Ila sends her meal along with great expectation: This lunch, with Auntie’s special ingredients, is meant to reach her husband’s heart through his stomach – apparently an old adage of many cultures. But instead, the lunchbox lands on the desk of Saajan (Irrfan Khan of Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire ), a widower and soon-to-be retiree whose profound sadness is conveyed through his big brown eyes, so that little backstory is required.

In short order, both parties realize that “the thing that never happens” has happened and a mutual correspondence begins. By way of the notes they pass back and forth in the lunchbox, Ila and Saajan come to know each other, to support each other, and to fall in love.

Profound aftereffects

There is much more. All of it lovely, especially as captured by Ritesh Batra, a director who favors long, languid takes and wide shots that reveal a character’s settings and their relationship to their environment: The office, the kitchen, the train, etc. – all of it both revealing and meaningful.

Even the language, which drifts between Hindi and English effortlessly, reveals something about when and where we are. The letters between Ila and Saajan begin with a lightness – quips about the delicious food Ila has prepared – later evolving into poetic tomes where deepest fears and regrets are disclosed.

In a story that pivots on a “thing that never happens” happening, the consequences of the divergence from the norm must be profound not only for the players in the narrative but also for we who experience the story. The Lunchbox – sweet and bitter, full of heartache and hope – earns the right to ask its audience to accept the divergence, the possibility that something “new” can happen, and then revel in its aftereffects.

The Lunchbox / Dabba (2013) movie cast & crew Direction & Screenplay: Ritesh Batra. Cast: Nimrat Kaur, Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Lillete Dubey, Bharti Achrekar, Nakul Vaid, Shruti Bapna, Nisar Khan. Cinematography: Michael Simmonds. Film Editing: John F. Lyons. Music: Max Richter. Production Design: Shruti Gupte. Producers: Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga, and Arun Rangachari. Production Companies: Sikhya Entertainment | DAR Motion Pictures | National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) | Asap Films | Rohfilm | Cine Mosaic | Aide au cinéma indépendant – Canada (ACIC) | Arte France Cinéma | Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC) | Dharma Productions | Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg | Ministère des Affaires étrangères et du Développement International | Nittin Keni Creations | UTV Motion Pictures. Distributors: Nittin Keni Creations (India) | Sony Pictures Classics (United States). Running Time: 104 min. Country: India | France | Germany | United States | Canada.

The Lunchbox movie credits via the IMDb .

Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur The Lunchbox (2013) image: Sony Pictures Classics.

“ The Lunchbox (2013) Movie Review: Exceptional Epistolary Drama” last updated in March 2024.

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The lunchbox.

88 McClatchy-Tribune News Service Roger Moore McClatchy-Tribune News Service Roger Moore It’s an intimate, quiet and slow-paced romance, a simple, richly rewarding movie in the classic style of India’s greatest filmmaker, the late Satyajit Ray.
80 Variety Jay Weissberg Variety Jay Weissberg Batra adeptly plays on the tension of will they or won’t they meet, making good decisions based on character and situation rather than the need to uplift an audience.
80 The Dissolve Noel Murray The Dissolve Noel Murray Going strictly by plot description, Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox sounds a little like an Indian knock-off of a Nicholas Sparks movie, but it plays out more like Brief Encounter.
75 The Playlist Kevin Jagernauth The Playlist Kevin Jagernauth Batra's film is ultimately less about love than about the vulnerability relationships place us in emotionally, and courage required to move past pain, and experience life again after we've been hurt.
75 Slant Magazine Nick McCarthy Slant Magazine Nick McCarthy The patience in mercurially presenting the characters' backstories and desires is matched by the film's genuine curiosity about the healing power of sharing stories.
70 The Hollywood Reporter Deborah Young The Hollywood Reporter Deborah Young What is most endearing is the delicacy with which writer-director Ritesh Batra reveals the hopes, sorrows, regrets and fears of everyday people without any sign of condescension or narrative trickery.
70 Village Voice Jon Frosch Village Voice Jon Frosch Batra isn't ambitious with the visuals, but he creates an effective, unfussy sense of urban space, both indoor (cramped apartments, crowded buses) and outdoor (even leafy residential streets seem to be swarming with playing children).
68 Film.com William Goss Film.com William Goss This long-distance love story is comfort food in any language, perfectly agreeable and unlikely to surprise.
67 The A.V. Club Ben Kenigsberg The A.V. Club Ben Kenigsberg The Lunchbox ultimately registers as a too-hesitant portrayal of hesitancy, and its pleasures are largely incidental.
63 New York Post Kyle Smith New York Post Kyle Smith A clever setup that harkens back to “You’ve Got Mail” and “The Shop Around the Corner” doesn’t quite pay off in India’s warm-hearted comedy-drama The Lunchbox.
See all 28 reviews on Metacritic.com
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Movie Review: ‘The Lunchbox’

“The Lunchbox” revolves around something we are all familiar with from our childhood — a literal lunchbox — and creates a complex and powerful message behind this simple object. Refreshingly subtle and profound, this Indian romance film, directed by Ritesh Batra, provides an entertaining contrast to predictable movies by not following the plot that a typical audience might be used to.

Irrfan Khan, who also starred in “Life of Pi” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” plays the main male character, Sajan Fernandez. Nimrat Kaur takes on the role of Ila, a wife stuck in a failing marriage that she is desperately trying to save. These two characters cross paths when Ila’s lunchboxes are mistakenly delivered to Sajan instead of her husband.

Still in a state of grief over his late wife, Sajan has found that little in his life brings him any excitement or joy. He goes through the mundane routine of his life without any exuberance or even a smile. Ila also has found that she rarely laughs or smiles anymore.

In an attempt to salvage her love-less marriage, Ila decides that the way back into her husband’s heart is through food. With the help of “auntie,” an elderly woman who lives upstairs from her, Ila sweats all morning in the kitchen to prepare her husband a lunch feast. The only problem is that her lunches are going to Sajan. Even after realizing this mistake, Ila cannot bring herself to tell the deliveryman to fix it because of her newfound relationship with the receiver of her lunchboxes. Initially writing a note to Sajan thanking him for finishing all her food (as it is a sign that her cooking was delicious), Ila discovers that this mistake was a blessed one. Passing notes to each other in the lunchbox, Sajan and Ila quickly find that the best part of their days is reading each other’s letters.

Batra does an excellent job building and escalating their relationship through these lunchbox exchanges, despite the fact that Ila and Sajan have never met before. We see that each character has deep sources of dissatisfaction with their current state of life, which are remedied by being able to express them through these lunchbox letters. The fact that this love story may not be as sexually charged or passionate as many other love stories like “The Notebook” or “Endless Love” makes their relationship even more meaningful and profound. In each other, Ila and Sajan find consolation in the midst of the hardships in their lives. The attraction isn’t of the love at first sight flavor, but is instead a result of their trust, understanding and acknowledgement of each other’s hardships.

While the audience knows about the significant age difference between Ila and Sajan from the very beginning, the characters themselves do not know to what extent this difference is. Both in very different phases of life, their relationship not only explores themes of love but also of the different stages of life. Sajan experiences a renewal in his outlook as his relationship with Ila grows. The transformation of Sajan is furthered by his newly assigned trainee. With a stubborn and eternally optimistic attitude, the new trainee Shaikh helps Sajan learn to care for someone other than himself. Played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui who has acted in many Bollywood films, Shaikh pushes Sajan to open up through his great persistence. Having many more years of life experience, Sajannot not only provides Ila with companionship, but also with valuable advice. In return, Ila provides Sajan with the ability to dream and hope for a better future.

Any viewer can appreciate the nuances of their relationship and the overall film. The emotions conveyed are more subtle than many American-produced movies, and because of this, the film may seem less exciting or boring. The drama in the film does not come with elaborate and passionate scenes, but instead from the agony of thought that each character experiences. I was initially dissatisfied with the ending of the film as it did not follow the path that I was expecting and hoping it would follow. However, after thinking about it more, the unpredictable and maybe less desirable ending follows suit with the theme of the movie of subtlety and contemplation. “The Lunchbox” is a refreshing and thought-provoking take on the traditional love stories and encourages viewers to contemplate the nature of love and relationships in general.

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The Lunchbox Movie Review: The Lunchbox Movie

The lunchbox review 4/5 & rating. watch the lunchbox official trailer video, listen songs, movie news updates, movie review and checkout public movie reviews soon., the lunchbox review {4/5} & review rating.

The dabbawalas of Mumbai have shot to global fame, getting invited for the royal wedding and also giving guest lectures in some of the business schools in India. Now comes a film that tells the story of a gentle romance that blossoms in the swarming city of Mumbai between a young housewife and a middle-aged man. THE LUNCHBOX is a story of a beautiful relationship triggered by the wrong delivery of a lunchbox that's delivered daily within the bustling metropolis of Mumbai.

A well-told old-fashioned romance, THE LUNCHBOX gracefully unknots the trials, tribulations, fears and hopes of everyday people sans the glamour that the city of Mumbai has become synonymous with. It also brings back memories of the days when people used to communicate through hand-written lettersâ€¦ and cell phones and emails were unheard of.

Ila [Nimrat Kaur], a young housewife, tries to gain the attention of her husband [Nakul Vaid] via the paraphrased route 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach'. However, despite her exquisite culinary skills and of course, the aid and constant prodding by a voice from the 'aunty' upstairs, Ila desolately fails. However, all's not lost as the meticulously cooked dabba lands on the table of an unknowing and seemingly normal Saajan [Irrfan Khan].

Later realizing the mistake when her husband returns home, Ila encloses a note for the new recipient. By this one-in-a-million mistake, the lives of two distinctly different individuals clash, leading to a romantic revival of familiarity through written correspondence in the age of emails.

As the conversations between the two prolong, the topic shifts from the basic food to that of their lives, letting each individual open up more about themselves. As the film progresses, Ila, a confused housewife, emerges a more confident woman who is ready to take a decision. As for Saajan, he metamorphoses from a gloomy, close-to-retirement government employee to that of a man searching for his long-lost soul mate.

Debutant director Ritesh Batra does a magnificent job of encapsulating the interminable restlessness of a city that is constantly on the go. While doing so, he expertly gives voice to the fears that constantly plague the minds of individuals though the exchange of hand-written letters, besides infusing that certain soul, warmth and compassion in the narrative. He also deserves kudos for choosing an unconventional plot, combining romance and food that's sure to strike a chord with cineastes. In fact, it won't be erroneous to state that the film's strength lies in its simplistic plot and an unfussy screenplay, besides the striking performances of its principal actors.

Irrfan illustrates yet again that he's one of the finest talents to come out of India. Just recall his body of work and you'd agree that he's a volcano of talent that leaves you completely enthralled with noteworthy performances in film after film. The question is, is there something Irrfan can't do? Nimrat is the find of the year, truly. To stand up to talents like Irrfan and Nawazuddin in a film and yet retain your individualistic identity is nothing short of an accomplishment. Nawazuddin is absolutely flawless, essaying his part with flair.

Denzil Smith, Bharti Achrekar [never seen but heard in the film], Nakul Vaid and Lillette Dubey add spice to their respective parts.

On the whole, THE LUNCHBOX is a standout film, a sumptuous treat that's sure to be relished by connoisseurs of cinema. A film with a big heart, it makes you realize that you can unearth contentment and pleasure even if you board the wrong train. Easily one of the finest films to come out of India.

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Home » Movies » Bollywood Movie Reviews

The Lunchbox Review

Star cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Denzil Smith, Bharati Achrekar, Nakul Vaid, Yashvi Puneet Nagar, Lillete Dubey

Director: Ritesh Batra

What’s Good: The film is an utter culinary and cinematic delight ladled up with the right amounts of love and warmth.

What’s Bad: Nothing

Loo Break: Don’t even think of one.

Watch or Not?: The Lunchbox within the first few minutes made its way into the cockles of my heart. Elegantly done, the film conjures a connoisseur variety of cinema where love and romance are stretched beyond the contours marked out by epic Bollywood romances. The love here has so much tenderness, eulogizes companionship of two very unlikely people who are drawn close over notes exchanged via a lunchbox, which almost builds up as a character in their story. Films like these are gratifyingly piquant and should definitely not be missed!

Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is a housewife whose life shuffles between her negligent husband and little daughter. Besides the other chores of the day, the woman is constantly fussing about making the right degree of delicious dish for her husband’s tiffin, that will make him notice her.

However, the immaculate dabbawallahs are just human and they reach her loving dabbah to a loner Government officer Saajan Fernandez (Irrfan). On the edge of retiring, the man has no spice in his life and nothing to look forward to. He is constantly dodging the man who is to replace him (Nawzuddin Siddiqui) and is nasty to the kids who play outside his house.

The lunchbox and the letters that are exchanged with them changes his life as he begins to get drawn back to liveliness. His somber life finds some color via the food Ila sends and their interactions are so perfectly entrancing that the two begin a journey towards companionship and love over their scribbled notes.

Irrfan Khan in a still from The Lunchbox

The Lunchbox Review: Script Analysis

The film has the aroma of immortality. Cooked up amidst the clutter of Mumbai city that is a familiar sight, the film uses unforgettable props to latch on to your memories. The lasting sights of passing trains and messy government office, the spirited dabbawalahs who feed scores of people everyday unfailingly; the ordinary setting of the story also manages to adhere us in its unvarying folds of familiarity. And yet the remarkable beauty of its ironies make the film intrinsically moving. There can be no dispute that writer, director Batra has penned down a exquisite story which its fabulous actors have evolved.

A scattered story of a neglected housewife and a salaried man on the brink of turning into a pensioner converges with an enduring beauty. The woman cooks with the hope that she’ll one day find the recipe that will make her husband notice her beyond the shadow of the woman who inhabits their Malad home. Saajan Fernandez is a man stuck in the labyrinth of loneliness. Essentially a loner with fractured memories of his deceased wife and an dull life, Ila manages to spice up his tiffin and his life with her spices and dishes. By a mysterious mistake of dabbawalahs, the tiffin she packs for her husband reaches Saajan and the two strike up a relationship over letters.

She bares the marbles of her boring marriage and that she suspects her husband is having an affair. He recounts to her, the memories of his wife laughing over and over at the same jokes of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and recording them while he kept looking back at her reflection. There is endearment in every scene that comes on the frame – if you can find, there is beauty is every slide the director has come up with.

Even supporting characters are hued up. Nawazuddin plays Shaikh, the man who is to replace Saajan at work, a chattering young man, who chops vegetables on his work files and makes references of his dead mother’s sayings (one who he has no clue about) simply to add weight to his lines. Such characters immediately grab your fondness. The voice of Bharti Achrekar as Deshpande Aunty who is fussing over her coma stricken husband’s diapers is another character who secures a place in your heart even when you never catch a glimpse of her. She is intriguingly used and such a delight throughout.

If you have ever seen the film The Great Indian Butterfly , you’ll know why the constant referencing to Bhutan is both affectionate and yet a fallacy. However, the idea has been evolved with a hammering subtlety. The significance of the wrapping lines have far reaching impact than we can fathom while we hear them over and over again in the film. ‘Sometimes even the wrong train can reach you to the right station!’

The Lunchbox Review: Star Performances

Irrfan is never short of astounding and the actor does it yet again. He slips into the role of a man years older to him with incredible ease and yet he never falters at his marvelous sense of thoroughly syncing with his characters. He is terrific and somehow so charming in his role, that even as the retiring old man he will make your heart skip a beat.

Nimrat Kaur is startlingly natural. She is not the eye candy heroine, she is a surprisingly magnificent actress who understands every shade of her character, performing it with startling beauty.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui essays his role with keenness and he is laudably brilliant at his work. As a supporting character, he is hard to miss for the wonderful chemistry that oozes out of his camaraderie with Irrfan. A few of them makes for the film’s most highlight moments.

The Lunchbox Review: Direction, Editing and Music

Debutant Ritesh Batra dishes out in his first film, that many filmmakers can’t achieve in years. His characters have the mystic charm of yesteryear beauty. He makes his film revel in simplicity as the two protagonists are drawn to each other via letters and food. The metaphor of Food emerges to be as real as it symbolically denotes moods and feelings – from the well-licked lunchbox that swells Ila’s morale as she is appreciated to the empty box which symbolizes her dejection! The idea has previously been aced in Rahul Bose’ National Award winning Bengali film Antaheen , but Batra’s treatment did not use melancholy as much as it used the magic of ironies. He weaves an enchanting world within his film, all of which are strangely recognizable. The way he decided to end his film could not have been better -open ended that leaves the decision of the story to its viewers. I being a hopeless romantic have finished it off in my head on a positive note.

The film’s screenplay has no sags and for music it has the title track of 90s’ hit film Saajan that has far reaching meaning than just being synonymous with the name of its lead man.

The Lunchbox Review: The Last Word

The Lunchbox is one of those films that will mesmerize you with dripping simplicity. Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur build their characters intimately without meeting each other for once all through the film. Normally such stories lose their steam soon enough, but Batra’s expertise handles the film with its ingrained beauty of an unlikely love story. It is such a potent and effective film that I can’t really settle for anything less than 4.5/5. It is only sometimes that one encounters an unblemished film, this ranks among those few for me!

The Lunchbox Trailer

The Lunchbox releases on 20th September, 2013.

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The Lunchbox
Revised : Critic's Rating has revised from 4 to 3.5, based on popular feedback.
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Irrfan leads the way, underplayed, yet lasting, like a cardamom between your lips.

The Lunchbox Movie Review

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This film marks the first collaboration of uncle-nephew duo Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. Arjun is the son of Anil’s brother Boney Kapoor. Share
This film marks the first collaboration of uncle-nephew duo Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. Arjun is the son of Anil’s brother Boney Kapoor.
This is the second time Arjun Kapoor is playing a double role, the first being Aurangzeb (2013).
The song ‘Yamma yamma’ from ‘Shaan’ is sampled in the song ‘Partywali Night' for the film.

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Movie Reviews

'civil war' is a doomsday thought experiment — that could have used more thinking.

Justin Chang

Kirsten Dunst plays a battle scarred photojournalist in Civil War. Murray Close/A24 hide caption

Kirsten Dunst plays a battle scarred photojournalist in Civil War.

Releasing a movie called Civil War in this election year is certainly one way to grab headlines. Surprisingly, though, Alex Garland 's ambitious new thriller largely sidesteps the politics of the present moment.

It wants to sound a queasy note of alarm, as if the democracy doomsday scenario it's showing us could really happen, but it's hard to buy into a premise that feels this thinly sketched. The story takes place in a not-so-distant future where Texas and California have improbably joined forces and seceded from the U.S.

Florida, not to be outdone, has also broken away on its own. The president, a third-term tyrant played by Nick Offerman , has responded by calling in the troops and launching airstrikes on his fellow Americans, plunging the country into poverty and lawlessness.

Garland keeps a lot of the details vague; he's less interested in how we might have gotten here than in how we would respond. To that end, he focuses on characters whose job it is to document what's happening.

Kirsten Dunst gives a strong, tough-minded performance as Lee, a skilled photojournalist who's covered conflicts all over the world and is now confronting this nightmare on her home turf. She's headed from New York to Washington, D.C., where many expect that the war, which has been raging for some time, will end with a showdown at the White House.

Accompanying Lee on this dangerous journey are two seasoned colleagues: Joel, a wily reporter played by Wagner Moura from Narcos , and Sammy, a veteran political writer played by the always outstanding Stephen McKinley Henderson.

The America in Civil War looks both familiar and unfamiliar. A24 hide caption

The America in Civil War looks both familiar and unfamiliar.

Per movie convention, there's also an inexperienced young outsider: Jessie, an aspiring war photographer played by Cailee Spaeny, the star of last year's biopic Priscilla . Not long into their trip, the four journalists stumble on a tense scene at a gas station where three armed men are holding two other men captive. The journalists get away without incident, but Jessie was deeply disturbed by what what was happening, started second guessing herself and didn't get the shot.

In time, Jessie gets better at her job; more than that, she becomes hooked. The movie is partly about the addictive thrill of thrusting a camera into a war zone. But it's also about the trauma and desensitization that these photographers experience as they put their emotions aside and do everything they can to get that perfect shot.

Here are 6 movies to see this spring

Civil War itself has been quite strikingly visualized by the cinematographer Rob Hardy and the production designer Caty Maxey. They show us an America that looks both familiar and unfamiliar, resembling the battlefields we've seen in footage from other conflicts in other places. There are surreally grim images of bloodstained sidewalks, bombed-out buildings, and a once-busy highway where rows of abandoned cars stretch for miles and miles. Garland has a real feel for post-apocalyptic landscapes, as we saw in his script for the zombie thriller 28 Days Later . In the movies he's directed since, like the brilliant Annihilation , he's shown a real talent for building suspense and anxiety.

A Masterful Glimpse Of Humanity's Physical — And Emotional — 'Annihilation'

But as stunningly detailed as Civil War 's dystopia is, from moment to moment, I hardly believed a thing I was seeing. As Lee and her pals inch closer to D.C., they go from one violent set-piece to another, each one calculated for maximum terror.

There's a nasty ambush at a Christmas theme-park display in the middle of nowhere, followed by a chilling encounter with a gun-toting racist psychopath played, in a mordant touch, by Jesse Plemons, Dunst's off-screen husband. The result is more of a button-pushing genre exercise than a serious reckoning with the consequences of the movie's premise. By the time the characters arrive at their destination, just in time for a daring raid on the White House, Civil War feels ever more like an empty stunt — a thought experiment that hasn't been especially well thought out.

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Dunst: expressing something blue in melancholia.

If there's one thing that keeps you watching, though, it's Dunst's performance as a battle-scarred professional doing her job under horrific circumstances that she's too numb to feel horrified by. As she showed in her great performance in Lars von Trier 's Melancholia , there's something about Dunst that's particularly well suited to apocalyptic material. I wish her better vehicles than Civil War in the future, but it's gratifying to see her anchor a major movie regardless. She's an actor I'd follow to the end of the world and back.

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'Amar Singh Chamkila' Review: Diljit Dosanjh is electric in Imtiaz Ali's worthy film

'amar singh chamkila' movie review: the film is worth watching simply for its music and diljit dosanjh's performance as the legendary punjabi singer. the film succeeds not only for its strong script, but also for the music and performances..

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'Amar Singh Chamkila' released on Netflix on April 12
Diljit Dosanjh is spectacular as Amar Singh Chamkila
The movie is directed by Imtiaz Ali

Cast & Crew

Diljit Dosanjh

Release Date: 12 Apr, 2024

Imtiaz Ali's 'Amar Singh Chamkila' begins from the end. From when all appears over. Diljit Dosanjh plays the titular role of the enigmatic Punjabi folk singer, Chamkila, whose flourishing career is ended by his brutal murder.

Amid the tragedy, there is a shift in tone as we join the conversation between the police officer investigating his murder and the man who has lost his 'Ustaad'. Chamkila and his wife, Amarjot Kaur, wrapped in white sheets, is a pitiful sight with their blood staining the Punjabi music industry.

The film is an extraordinary record of a man who simultaneously became a great star and was destroyed by his fearlessness . What is most striking about it is that we can almost always see his rise to stardom and his looming downfall, happening at once. There is hardly a time when Chamkila doesn't possess his special charisma, not even when he faces death threats from music rivals and Khalistani terrorists.

WATCH AMAR SINGH CHAMKILA TRAILER HERE

This movie does not intend to be a documentary about Chamkila's double-entendre songs which made him and his listeners 'ganda banda' (a dirty man) by the self-proclaimed watchdogs of society. But, it is also a commentary on the society and the times that Chamkila inhabited. Imtiaz, along with script developers, Nidhi Sethia and Richa Nanda, have shown the impact of the insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s on Chamkila's life and career.

'Amar Singh Chamkila' flips back and forth through time and uses archival footage from varied sources, including Chamkila and Amarjot's housefull akhaadas (stage shows) in Punjab, amplifying the emotional connect with them. Some scenes are caricaturish, and it is hard to comprehend why. They don't work, but their presence on the screen is, thankfully, short.

Where the film succeeds, it's not only for its strong script but also for its music and performances.

'Amar Singh Chamkila' is worth watching simply for its music and Diljit Dosanjh performing it. That it looks deeper and gives us a sense of the man himself is what makes it special. Imtiaz Ali brings quick sympathy to Chamkila as a performer and as a man. 4 out of 5 stars for Amar Singh Chamkila Published By: Arushi Jain Published On: Apr 12, 2024 ALSO READ | Diljit Dosanjh says parents sent him away from village at 11: 'Nobody asked me'

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‘Challengers’ Review: Zendaya and Company Smash the Sports-Movie Mold in Luca Guadagnino’s Tennis Scorcher

Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist compete for a fellow player’s heart in a steamy and stylish love triangle from the director of 'Call Me by Your Name.'

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

‘Challengers’ Review: Zendaya and Company Smash the Sports-Movie Mold in Luca Guadagnino’s Tennis Scorcher 8 hours ago
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Anyone who’s ever played tennis knows the game starts with love and escalates fast. In Luca Guadagnino ’s hip, sexy and ridiculously overheated “ Challengers ,” the rivals are former doubles partners Art Donaldson ( Mike Faist ) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), best friends since the age of 12, who went their separate ways after both players fell for the same woman. Patrick got there first, but Art wound up marrying her — and their sense of competition has only intensified since.

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“I’m no homewrecker,” Tashi teases Art and Patrick the night they meet her, 13 years earlier. Constructed like a tennis competition, Justin Kuritzkes’ screenplay ricochets back and forth through time, asking us to pivot our brains the way audiences do at the movie’s opening challenger match. (In pro tennis, challenger events are like the minor leagues, where second-tier talents prove themselves.) This one frames the film, as Tashi seems torn between her husband and his old partner.

Watching from the stands, their legs splayed indecently wide, the pair ogle Tashi as the wind whips her short skirt up in the air. None of this is accidental: not the way Jonathan Anderson (as in J.W. Anderson, switching from catwalks to costume design in his first feature credit) showcases Zendaya’s gazelle-like legs, not the way DP Sayombhu Mukdeeprom frames the boys’ crotches, and certainly not the moment Patrick squeezes his pal’s leg as Tashi shows them how, at its most beautiful, the game can be an ecstatic experience.

Later that night, at an Adidas-sponsored party for Tashi, the guys take turns trying to get her number. They’re motivated by hormones. She’s more strategic (the sheer control involved in Zendaya’s performance is astonishing, transforming this would-be trophy into the one who sets the rules). “You don’t know what tennis is,” Tashi challenges Patrick, going on to explain, “It’s a relationship.” Lines like this, which spell everything out in blinking neon lights, run throughout Kuritzkes’ script. But Guadagnino’s execution is all about subtext, calibrating things such that body language speaks volumes.

The same goes for what promises to be the year’s hottest scene, back in the boys’ hotel room, as Tashi sits on the bed between the two and coaxes — or coaches — them to make out. “Challengers” is not a gay film per se, but it leaves things ambiguous enough that one could read it like Lukas Dhont’s recent “Close,” about a friendship so tight, the boys’ peers tease them for it.

Over the course of 131 minutes, “Challengers” volleys between what amounts to a romantic rematch and intimate earlier vignettes. At all times, even off-screen, Tashi remains the fulcrum. In the present, Art — whose torso shows signs of multiple surgeries — has been on a cold streak, which betrays a loss of passion for the game. Passion’s no problem for Patrick, who’s more confident in both his swing and his sexuality.

The film calls for intensely physical performances from the two male actors, who both appear wobbly and exhausted by the end. Faist (a Broadway star whom “West Side Story” introduced to moviegoers) has a relatively traditional character arc, patiently waiting his turn and evolving as the timeline progresses. O’Connor (whose smoldering turn in gay indie “God’s Own Country” got him cast on “The Crown”) comes across as animalistic and immature by comparison, as his bad-boy character refuses to grow up or give up.

Another filmmaker might have subtracted himself in order to foreground the story, whereas Guadagnino goes big, leading with style (and a trendy score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). In keeping with the athletic theme, he does all kinds of wild things with the camera, including a composition framed from the umpire’s perspective mid-court that zooms along the net to find Tashi in the crowd. Occasionally, she and other characters smack the fluorescent yellow balls directly at the screen, making us flinch in our seats. By the end, “Challengers” has assumed the ball’s POV — or maybe it’s the racket’s — as Guadagnino immerses audiences in the film’s climactic match.

Far from your typical sports movie, “Challengers” is less concerned with the final score than with the ever-shifting dynamic between the players. The pressure mounts and the perspiration pours, as the pair once known as “Fire and Ice” face off again. Whether audiences identify as Team Patrick or Team Art, Guadagnino pulls a risky yet effective trick, essentially scoring the winning shot himself.

Reviewed at AMC Century City 15, Los Angeles, April 9, 2024. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 131 MIN.

Production: Amazon MGM presentation of a Why Are You Acting?, Frenesy Films, Pascal Pictures production. Producers: Amy Pascal, Luca Guadagnino, Zendaya, Rachel O’Connor. Executive producers: Bernard Bellew, Lorenzo Mieli, Kevin Ulrich.
Crew: Director: Luca Guadagnino. Camera: Sayonbhu Mukdeeprom. Editor: Marco Costa. Music: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross. Music supervisor: Robin Urdang.
With: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist.

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Critic’s Pick

‘Civil War’ Review: We Have Met the Enemy and It Is Us. Again.

In Alex Garland’s tough new movie, a group of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst, as a photographer, travels a United States at war with itself.

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‘Civil War’ | Anatomy of a Scene

The writer and director alex garland narrates a sequence from his film..

“My name is Alex Garland and I’m the writer director of ‘Civil War’. So this particular clip is roughly around the halfway point of the movie and it’s these four journalists and they’re trying to get, in a very circuitous route, from New York to DC, and encountering various obstacles on the way. And this is one of those obstacles. What they find themselves stuck in is a battle between two snipers. And they are close to one of the snipers and the other sniper is somewhere unseen, but presumably in a large house that sits over a field and a hill. It’s a surrealist exchange and it’s surrounded by some very surrealist imagery, which is they’re, in broad daylight in broad sunshine, there’s no indication that we’re anywhere near winter in the filming. In fact, you can kind of tell it’s summer. But they’re surrounded by Christmas decorations. And in some ways, the Christmas decorations speak of a country, which is in disrepair, however silly it sounds. If you haven’t put away your Christmas decorations, clearly something isn’t going right.” “What’s going on?” “Someone in that house, they’re stuck. We’re stuck.” “And there’s a bit of imagery. It felt like it hit the right note. But the interesting thing about that imagery was that it was not production designed. We didn’t create it. We actually literally found it. We were driving along and we saw all of these Christmas decorations, basically exactly as they are in the film. They were about 100 yards away, just piled up by the side of the road. And it turned out, it was a guy who’d put on a winter wonderland festival. People had not dug his winter wonderland festival, and he’d gone bankrupt. And he had decided just to leave everything just strewn around on a farmer’s field, who was then absolutely furious. So in a way, there’s a loose parallel, which is the same implication that exists within the film exists within real life.” “You don’t understand a word I say. Yo. What’s over there in that house?” “Someone shooting.” “It’s to do with the fact that when things get extreme, the reasons why things got extreme no longer become relevant and the knife edge of the problem is all that really remains relevant. So it doesn’t actually matter, as it were, in this context, what side they’re fighting for or what the other person’s fighting for. It’s just reduced to a survival.”

By Manohla Dargis

A blunt, gut-twisting work of speculative fiction, “Civil War” opens with the United States at war with itself — literally, not just rhetorically. In Washington, D.C., the president is holed up in the White House; in a spookily depopulated New York, desperate people wait for water rations. It’s the near-future, and rooftop snipers, suicide bombers and wild-eyed randos are in the fight while an opposition faction with a two-star flag called the Western Forces, comprising Texas and California — as I said, this is speculative fiction — is leading the charge against what remains of the federal government. If you’re feeling triggered, you aren’t alone.

It’s mourning again in America, and it’s mesmerizingly, horribly gripping. Filled with bullets, consuming fires and terrific actors like Kirsten Dunst running for cover, the movie is a what-if nightmare stoked by memories of Jan. 6. As in what if the visions of some rioters had been realized, what if the nation was again broken by Civil War, what if the democratic experiment called America had come undone? If that sounds harrowing, you’re right. It’s one thing when a movie taps into childish fears with monsters under the bed; you’re eager to see what happens because you know how it will end (until the sequel). Adult fears are another matter.

In “Civil War,” the British filmmaker Alex Garland explores the unbearable if not the unthinkable, something he likes to do. A pop cultural savant, he made a splashy zeitgeist-ready debut with his 1996 best seller “The Beach,” a novel about a paradise that proves deadly, an evergreen metaphor for life and the basis for a silly film . That things in the world are not what they seem, and are often far worse, is a theme that Garland has continued pursuing in other dark fantasies, first as a screenwriter (“ 28 Days Later ”), and then as a writer-director (“ Ex Machina ”). His résumé is populated with zombies, clones and aliens, though reliably it is his outwardly ordinary characters you need to keep a closer watch on.

By the time “Civil War” opens, the fight has been raging for an undisclosed period yet long enough to have hollowed out cities and people’s faces alike. It’s unclear as to why the war started or who fired the first shot. Garland does scatter some hints; in one ugly scene, a militia type played by a jolting, scarily effective Jesse Plemons asks captives “what kind of American” they are. Yet whatever divisions preceded the conflict are left to your imagination, at least partly because Garland assumes you’ve been paying attention to recent events. Instead, he presents an outwardly and largely post-ideological landscape in which debates over policies, politics and American exceptionalism have been rendered moot by war.

A woman with a bulletproof vest that says “Press” stands in a smoky city street.

One thing that remains familiar amid these ruins is the movie’s old-fashioned faith in journalism. Dunst, who’s sensational, plays Lee, a war photographer who works for Reuters alongside her friend, a reporter, Joel (the charismatic Wagner Moura). They’re in New York when you meet them, milling through a crowd anxiously waiting for water rations next to a protected tanker. It’s a fraught scene; the restless crowd is edging into mob panic, and Lee, camera in hand, is on high alert. As Garland’s own camera and Joel skitter about, Lee carves a path through the chaos, as if she knows exactly where she needs to be — and then a bomb goes off. By the time it does, an aspiring photojournalist, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), is also in the mix.

The streamlined, insistently intimate story takes shape once Lee, Joel, Jessie and a veteran reporter, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), pile into a van and head to Washington. Joel and Lee are hoping to interview the president (Nick Offerman), and Sammy and Jessie are riding along largely so that Garland can make the trip more interesting. Sammy serves as a stabilizing force (Henderson fills the van with humanizing warmth), while Jessie plays the eager upstart Lee takes under her resentful wing. It’s a tidily balanced sampling that the actors, with Garland’s banter and via some cozy downtime, turn into flesh-and-blood personalities, people whose vulnerability feeds the escalating tension with each mile.

As the miles and hours pass, Garland adds diversions and hurdles, including a pair of playful colleagues, Tony and Bohai (Nelson Lee and Evan Lai), and some spooky dudes guarding a gas station. Garland shrewdly exploits the tense emptiness of the land, turning strangers into potential threats and pretty country roads into ominously ambiguous byways. Smartly, he also recurrently focuses on Lee’s face, a heartbreakingly hard mask that Dunst lets slip brilliantly. As the journey continues, Garland further sketches in the bigger picture — the dollar is near-worthless, the F.B.I. is gone — but for the most part, he focuses on his travelers and the engulfing violence, the smoke and the tracer fire that they often don’t notice until they do.

Despite some much-needed lulls (for you, for the narrative rhythm), “Civil War” is unremittingly brutal or at least it feels that way. Many contemporary thrillers are far more overtly gruesome than this one, partly because violence is one way unimaginative directors can put a distinctive spin on otherwise interchangeable material: Cue the artful fountains of arterial spray. Part of what makes the carnage here feel incessant and palpably realistic is that Garland, whose visual approach is generally unfussy, doesn’t embellish the violence, turning it into an ornament of his virtuosity. Instead, the violence is direct, at times shockingly casual and unsettling, so much so that its unpleasantness almost comes as a surprise.

If the violence feels more intense than in a typical genre shoot ’em up, it’s also because, I think, with “Civil War,” Garland has made the movie that’s long been workshopped in American political discourse and in mass culture, and which entered wider circulation on Jan. 6. The raw power of Garland’s vision unquestionably owes much to the vivid scenes that beamed across the world that day when rioters, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “ MAGA civil war ,” swarmed the Capitol. Even so, watching this movie, I also flashed on other times in which Americans have relitigated the Civil War directly and not, on the screen and in the streets.

Movies have played a role in that relitigation for more than a century, at times grotesquely. Two of the most famous films in history — D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist epic “The Birth of a Nation” (which became a Ku Klux Klan recruitment tool) and the romantic 1939 melodrama “Gone With the Wind” — are monuments to white supremacy and the myth of the Southern Lost Cause. Both were critical and popular hits. In the decades since, filmmakers have returned to the Civil War era to tell other stories in films like “Glory,” “Lincoln” and “Django Unchained” that in addressing the American past inevitably engage with its present.

There are no lofty or reassuring speeches in “Civil War,” and the movie doesn’t speak to the better angels of our nature the way so many films try to. Hollywood’s longstanding, deeply American imperative for happy endings maintains an iron grip on movies, even in ostensibly independent productions. There’s no such possibility for that in “Civil War.” The very premise of Garland’s movie means that — no matter what happens when or if Lee and the rest reach Washington — a happy ending is impossible, which makes this very tough going. Rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor’s face that, like Dunst’s, expressed a nation’s soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray.

Civil War Rated R for war violence and mass death. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times. More about Manohla Dargis

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Lunch box Movie Review
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Movie review: The Lunchbox

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The Lunchbox
Jul 04, 2014. 'The Lunch Box' (2014) is the genial and sensible debut film of Ritesh Batra which takes place in India. It's a nice slice-of-life story that follows the subtle neglected lives of ...
The Lunchbox (2013)
The Lunchbox: Directed by Ritesh Batra. With Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Lillete Dubey. A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to an older man in the dusk of his life as they build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox.
The Lunchbox: Old School Anonymity Softens New World Discontent
Ritesh Batra 's first feature, "The Lunchbox" (2013) hooked me within the first act. Imagine the life you live, when a short note of a few lines becomes your daily thrill. Here, we follow the quiet lives of disconnected people reaching across the urban noise of Mumbai, reaching for anyone who would listen.
The Lunchbox
The Lunchbox is a 2013 drama film written and directed by Ritesh Batra.Produced by Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap and Arun Rangachari, The Lunchbox is an international co-production of studios in India, the US, Germany and France. It stars Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bharti Achrekar and Nakul Vaid in supporting roles.. The Lunchbox was screened at Critics' Week at ...
The Lunchbox Movie Review for Parents
The most recent home video release of The Lunchbox movie is July 1, 2014. Here are some details… Home Video Notes: The Lunchbox. Release Date: 8 July 2014. The Lunchbox releases to home video in a Combo Pack (Blu-ray and DVD), with the following extras: - Commentary track with writer/director Ritesh Batra.
Movie Review
The Lunchbox. Directors: Ritesh Batra. Genre: Drama, Romance. Running time: 104 minutes. Rated PG for thematic material and smoking. With Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui. In Hindi ...
The Lunchbox (2013)
The Lunchbox(Movie -2013) Review - The movie "The Last Samurai" ended with a quote something like "We all seek some small measure of peace, and few of us ever find". After many years "The Lunchbox", a movie from a completely different background and culture echoed the same thought to my ears, really it is never too late to start your life again
'The Lunchbox' Review: Ritesh Batra's Delicious Debut
A feel-good movie that touches the heart while steering clear of expectation, ... Cannes Film Review: 'The Lunchbox' Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (Critics' Week), May 19, 2013. Running ...
The Lunchbox
Summary A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to an old man in the dusk of his life as they build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this fantasy threatens to overwhelm their reality. Drama. Romance.
The Lunchbox review
Bollywood romance blossoms beautifully when the wrong lunch lands on the desk of a Mumbai office drone, writes Xan Brooks
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The Lunchbox Movie Review: Critics Rating: 3.5 stars, click to give your rating/review,Irrfan leads the way, underplayed, yet lasting, like a cardamom between your lips.
Movie Review: 'The Lunchbox'
Movie Review: 'The Lunchbox'. Gabe Johnson and Robin Lindsay • February 28, 2014.
The Lunchbox (2013) Movie Review: Exceptional Epistolary Drama
The Lunchbox (2013) movie review: In his engrossing feature film debut, screenwriter-director Ritesh Batra weaves a "socio-romantic" narrative that connects a married woman seeking her husband's attention, a despondent widower about to quit his job, and Mumbai's peripatetic dabbawalas.
The Lunchbox (2013)
The Lunchbox. It's an intimate, quiet and slow-paced romance, a simple, richly rewarding movie in the classic style of India's greatest filmmaker, the late Satyajit Ray. Batra adeptly plays on the tension of will they or won't they meet, making good decisions based on character and situation rather than the need to uplift an audience.
The Lunchbox
The Lunchbox review - 'a quiet storm of banked emotions'. Bollywood romance blossoms beautifully when the wrong lunch lands on the desk of a Mumbai office drone, writes Xan Brooks. 12 Apr 2014.
Movie Review: 'The Lunchbox'
By Meagan Wang • March 14, 2014. "The Lunchbox" revolves around something we are all familiar with from our childhood — a literal lunchbox — and creates a complex and powerful message behind this simple object. Refreshingly subtle and profound, this Indian romance film, directed by Ritesh Batra, provides an entertaining contrast to ...
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Original Title: Lunchbox, The. A snafu by one of the 5000 couriers delivering lunchboxes across Mumbai sparks an unexpected epistolatory romance in Ritesh Batra's delightful debut. Hoping to ...
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The Lunchbox Movie Review 2013 : The Lunchbox Critics Rating 4/5. The dabbawalas of Mumbai have shot to global fame, getting invited for the royal wedding and also giving guest lectures in some of ...
Exploring The Lunchbox Movie: Reviews & Insights
Audience Reviews and Reactions to The Lunchbox. As the endearing tale of The Lunchbox unfolded on the big screen, audiences across various platforms were quick to share their heartfelt reactions and reviews. From movie theaters to social media, the movie sparked a wave of emotional responses that resonated with viewers on a profound level.
The Lunchbox Review
The Lunchbox Movie Review: 4.5/5 stars. What's Good: The film is an utter culinary and cinematic delight ladled up with the right amounts of love and warmth. What's Bad: Nothing.
The Lunchbox Movie Review
Review: Like a tiffin carrier, The Lunchbox has levels - it is the story of a man so lonely, he's forgotten what any companionship means. It is the story of a suburban housewife, deeply alone. It is the story of meeting via eating. It is a love-story - and a love-letter to Mumbai, to trains that go dhak-dhak, to dabbawalas and rain, to love and ...
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The most recent home video release of The Lunchbox movie is July 1, 2014. Here are some details…

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