ALL OF A SUDDEN (SOUDAIN)

Directed by

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

France, Japan, Germany, Belgium 2026 196 MIN

VIEW SCREENINGS

Synopsis

Marie-Lou runs a care facility for the elderly in the Paris suburbs, where she is attempting to introduce a philosophy of care based on listening, physical attention, and respect for the dignity of its residents. Her approach faces resistance from members of her own staff. Her life changes when she meets Mari, a Japanese theatre director living with cancer. Despite their very different backgrounds, the two women develop an intense and supportive friendship. As illness, work, and the institutional pressures surrounding them become increasingly intertwined, their relationship develops into a shared determination to challenge what appears impossible and to defend a more humane way of caring for others.

Gallery

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese director and screenwriter, born in 1978. He studied at the University of Tokyo and later completed the graduate film programme at Tokyo University of the Arts. He gained international recognition with Happy Hour (2015), followed by Asako I & II (2018), which competed at Cannes. In 2021, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlin, while Drive My Car received the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes and later won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Hamaguchi is known for meticulously observed stories about intimacy, communication, memory, and the emotional complexities hidden beneath everyday conversation.

Credits

Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna
Cinematography: Alan Guichaoua
Editing: Azusa Yamazaki, Minori Akimoto
Music: Samuel Andreyev
Sound Design: Pierre Mertens, Paul Heymans, Thomas Gauder
Cast: Virginie Efira, Tao Okamoto, Kyōzō Nagatsuka, Kodai Kurosaki, Jean-Charles Clichet, Marie Bunel
Producers: Renan Artukmaç, Bettina Brokemper, Charlotte Dauphin, Julien Deris, David Gauquié, Charles-Henri de La Rochefoucauld, Hiroko Matsuda, Jean-Luc Ormières, Kôsuke Oshida, Joseph Rouschop, Yûji Sadai (Cinéfrance, Office Shirous, Bitters End, Heimatfilm, Taran