Joint Cannes Best Actress winners Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shine in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s most unexpected journey: a life-affirming ode to friendship at the edge of mortality.
All of a Sudden, the Japanese director’s gorgeous new feature, is the rarest type of film, not merely good enough to remind you what cinema can be, but great enough to remind you what life can be.
All of a Sudden 2026
Soudain, 急に具合が悪くなる
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Few filmmakers trust the power of conversation as deeply as Ryusuke Hamaguchi, transforming dialogue into revelation and human encounters into profound emotional experiences. Inspired by the correspondence between philosopher Makiko Miyano and anthropologist Maho Isono, All of a Sudden, Hamaguchi’s first French-language feature, unfolds as a luminous meditation on care, mortality and the fragile yet transformative bonds that emerge between strangers.
At its heart is the extraordinary friendship between Marie-Lou, the visionary director of a Parisian care home, and Mari, a Japanese theatre artist confronting terminal illness with grace and intellectual curiosity. Through their evolving relationship, Hamaguchi explores questions of dignity, compassion and human connection, creating a film that is as philosophically rich as it is emotionally resonant. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto deliver deeply nuanced performances, their remarkable chemistry lending warmth and immediacy to even the most intellectually charged exchanges. Rather than imposing easy answers, Hamaguchi invites viewers into a space of reflection where ideas, emotions and lived experience coexist with rare harmony. His portrait of caregiving becomes both a critique of contemporary social structures and a moving affirmation of human solidarity.
– Maria Giovanna Vagenas