appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Clarence Tsui

4/5 stars
Despite being set in Paris, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden eschews the city’s touristic landmarks. Rather, he focuses on hospitals, suburban trams and skyscrapers – a landscape as different as one would expect from a non-French director making a film in the French capital for the first time.
But the three-hour-plus film offers other pleasant surprises as well. Pivoting further from the Rohmer-esque romantic dramas of his early career, Hamaguchi doubles down on the fiery political conscience previously revealed in his 2023 eco-drama Evil Does Not Exist.
Inspired by a collection of correspondence between philosopher Makiko Miyano and anthropologist Maho Isono about human mortality, All of a Sudden revolves around the budding friendship between French nursing-home manager Marie-Lou (Virginie Efira) and Japanese theatre director Mari (Tao Okamoto).


Marie-Lou runs the Garden of Freedom, where she advocates a new way of attending to her elderly charges. Dubbed “Humanitude”, the approach demands carers be more delicate with the residents, which translates to a more time-consuming process that senior staff members dismiss offhand as impractical and unethical.
Frustrated by the pushback, Marie-Lou heads off to watch a play directed by Mari, having met the director in a chance encounter in a park earlier in the day.
Marie-Lou is fascinated by the philosophical conundrums mentioned in the play, while Mari is impressed by the questions she poses – in perfect Japanese, which Efira learned for her role – at an emotional post-show Q&A session.
Meeting up outside the theatre afterwards, the pair continue their discussion over a promenade along the Seine.
Here lies the pièce de résistance of the film: an hour-long conversation – first in Japanese, then in French – about the impact of capitalism on social cohesion and how this dominant socio-economic system affects the physical and mental health of the masses.

Though challenging, Efira and Okamoto pull the scene off with aplomb and genuine warmth.
With their nuanced performances, the two actresses evoke the passion and humanity driving their characters’ will to live and improve other people’s lives – something that eventually yields rewards at the nursing home.
Working with French cinematographer Alan Guichaoua, Hamaguchi manages to tease mesmerising imagery from both picturesque locations (Mari’s village house in Japan) and banal buildings (Marie-Lou’s living quarters in the care home).
“To rival the expression of human emotions, nothing beats the mother tongue,” the actor in Mari’s stage play says in All of a Sudden.
With a film that is at once thought-provoking and endearing, Hamaguchi has proved his own character wrong – by showing how it is the message rather than the language that matters most.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


Mariko Mori’s ‘All That Shines’ at Mori Art Museum: inside her landmark Tokyo exhibition

Venice 2026: 10 of the festival’s best movies, from Woman Unknown to Possible Love and Musk

Venice 2026: Arrested Memory movie review – Ethan Ruan leads Sabu’s muddled crime thriller

Venice 2026: Look Back movie review – Hirokazu Koreeda explores childhood manga dreams

Asian cinema: Japanese films

Cannes 2026: All of a Sudden movie review – Ryusuke Hamaguchi wows with Paris-set drama

Tao Okamoto plays a Japanese theatre director in All of a Sudden. The Paris-set drama is directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. 

Virginie Efira (centre) plays the director of a care facility for the elderly in All of a Sudden.

Cannes 2026: Parallel Tales movie review – Asghar Farhadi wastes a stellar French cast

Isabelle Huppert as Sylvie (left) and Adam Bessa as Adam in a still from Parallel Tales, directed by Asghar Farhadi.

Pierre Niney as Theo (left) and Virginie Efira as Nita in a still from Parallel Tales.

Cannes 2026: Nagi Notes movie review – Koji Fukada ponders the meaning of art in wartime

Takako Matsu as the sculptor Yoriko (front) and Shizuka Ishibashi as her model in a still from Nagi Notes, which played in the 2026 Cannes Film Festival’s main competition.

Nagi Notes actresses Shizuka Ishibashi (left) and Takako Matsu (right), and director, screenwriter, editor, and producer Koji Fukada, arrive at the screening of the film at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 13, 2026. Photo: AFP

Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express movie review – a riotous sci-fi anime ride

A still from the animated film Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express (category IIA; Japanese), directed by Yohei Kameyama.

A still from Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express.

Berlin 2026: A New Dawn movie review – climate crisis meets fireworks in confusing anime

A still from A New Dawn, directed by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya. Lead characters voiced by Riku Hagiwara and Kotone Furukawa. Photo: A New Dawn Film Partners




Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, director of A New Dawn, is a classical painter turned art director. Photo: Youji Shimizu

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, the three-hour movie on caregiving and capitalism is anchored by a profound bilingual conversation


Starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, the three-hour movie on caregiving and capitalism is anchored by a profound bilingual conversation.


Asian cinema

European cinema

Film reviews

Cinema

Fame and celebrity

Cannes Film Festival

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, the three-hour movie on caregiving and capitalism is anchored by a profound bilingual conversation

Starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, the three-hour movie on caregiving and capitalism is anchored by a profound bilingual conversation