Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s 'All of a Sudden' Review: A Three-Hour Masterclass in Patient Storytelling

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest film, All of a Sudden, may sound like a joke, but its title is no reflection of its pacing. Clocking in at three hours and 16 minutes, it is the longest film in the Main Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, surpassed only by Tiago Guedes’ Aquí by seven minutes. Unlike its name suggests, the movie is anything but sudden—it demands patience, embraces meandering dialogue, and unfolds like a novel with as many endings as The Return of the King.

The film, from the director of Asako I II and Oscar Best Picture nominee Drive My Car, centers on an unlikely pair of women navigating their own struggles. Marie-Lou Fontaine (Virginie Efira), a French nursing home director in Paris, speaks Japanese after studying anthropology in Japan. Mari Morisaki (Tao Okamoto), a terminally ill Japanese theater director, speaks French after studying in Paris. Their worlds collide when Marie-Lou encounters an agitated, nonverbal boy, Tomoki, during her commute. Tomoki is severely autistic and in Paris with his family to attend an experimental play directed by Mari, titled Up Close, No One Is Normal.

Marie-Lou, overworked and perpetually exhausted, volunteers to live on the nursing home’s premises, ready to respond to emergencies at a moment’s notice. Her encounter with Tomoki sparks an unexpected connection with Mari, leading her to attend the play—a one-person monologue about Italy’s closure of mental institutions. The film lingers on the performance, allowing its themes to breathe.

Hamaguchi’s work, alongside Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales at Cannes, highlights a director outside France crafting a largely French-language film. Yet All of a Sudden frequently shifts between French and Japanese, mirroring the cultural and emotional bridges between its protagonists. For those willing to surrender to its languid rhythms, the film offers a rich, dialogue-driven experience.