A One Mann’s Movies review of “All of a Sudden”. (From the 2026 London Film Festival). (2026, 3*, NR).
Original Title: Soudain.
For a film called All of a Sudden, this sure takes its sweet time to tell its story: a full 196 minutes, the longest of the films on the LFF slate this week. It was a mixed bag for me: on the one hand it had some really interesting perspectives on older life; on the other, it felt at times like we were being lectured.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
French nursing home director Marie-Lou (Virginie Efira) faces resistance from staff and shareholders after introducing a care method based on dignity. When she meets Mari (Tao Okamoto), a Japanese theatre director fighting her own battles, the two share a bond that will prove transformative.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (This film has not yet received a classification by the BBFC, but I would expect it to be a 15 based on strong language and adult themes.)
Talent:
Starring: Virginie Efira, Tao Okamoto, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Marie Bunel, Kodai Kurosaki, Jean-Charles Clichet, Marie Denarnaud, Séphora Pondi.
Directed by: Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Written by: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna.
Running Time: 3h 16m.
Review:
Positives:
- The action in the film centres around the work of Marie-Lou Fontaine (a brilliantly natural Virginie Efira) in a Paris nursing home. Her campaign to introduce ‘Humanitude’ to the home is bringing her into conflict with the staff for the increased training demands and the inability to do all the work in the time with the ‘new’ approach. Notably, Marie-Lou is butting heads with chief nurse Sophie (Marie Bunel). ‘Humanitude’ teaches the staff through treating the residents – most of whom have varying levels of dementia – with a level of respect. The pillars of the process involve ‘Gaze’ (direct eye contact at a close proximity); ‘Speech’ (talking in calm and gentle tones) and ‘Touch’ (gaining permission and supporting limbs, not grabbing them). The final pillar is encouraging more standing and movement, which obviously brings with it the increased danger of falls: something the nurses are gravely concerned about. It is really interesting to see this being implemented through the movie.
- It is quite touching to be introduced to the range of residents and to see the younger pictures of these old folks when they were active and employed in jobs, like – for example – being a female airline pilot.
- A chance encounter brings Marie-Lou into the orbit of a theatre company: the director is Mari Morisaki (Tao Okamoto) and the star Goro Kiyomiya (Kyôzô Nagatsuka), who has a severely autistic son Tomoki (Kodai Kurosaki). Tomoki has a habit of wandering onto the stage while Goro is performing, but as the production is focused on chaos and “making the impossible possible”, this is just incorporated into the act. Given that Kodai Kurosaki really doesn’t seem to be acting, I really liked this aspect of the film: almost life imitating art.
- The immediate friendship that blooms between Marie-Lou (who speaks perfect Japanese) and Mari (who speaks perfect French) is warm and genuine. And I liked where this went…. or rather where it DIDN’T go. The lazy way out – what I was expecting – was that the friendship would lead to an ‘inevitable’ lesbian sex scene. But while there was one suspect line in the script – Marie Lou says that she had a Japanese boyfriend and Mari replies “Now you tell me” – the story never goes there, which is to its credit.
- Mari reveals that she is struggling with incurable Stage 4 cancer. This makes the third reel of the film very moving (as it did for me with Elsinore).
- The film travels to Japan for some sequences, with a beautiful hillside overlooking a rural valley near Kyoto. The end scene at this location generated a tear: it’s beautifully done.
Negatives:
- There are two key moments in this film where Hamaguchi threatens to lose his audience.
- The first is the play within the film, which I thought was pretty terrible (but obviously, art is in the eye of the beholder). But it just goes on and on and on. (The Q and A at the end is the interesting part.)
- The second is where Mari basically gives Marie-Lou a ‘TED talk’ about capitalism and democracy, drawing ‘slides’ on a white-board. I didn’t time how long this segment was, but it felt like about 20 minutes. As a viewer, I felt like the screenwriters were lecturing me on what they thought I should be believing. They might have a point… but I really resented the lecture in the middle of the film.
- (Partly because of these rather pretentious excursions) the film is waaaaay too long for the story it is trying to tell. It tested my bladder and my patience.
Triggers
The film obviously includes a significant cancer theme which will be upsetting to some viewers. The film also has cases of dementia which might also upset some viewers impacted by this terrible disease.
Summary Thoughts:
There is a very good film buried in this flabby and over-indulgent stream of celluloid. Take a knife – or probably an axe – to the edit, lop an hour off the running time and it might have fully succeeded with me. My giving it 3 stars, in its present form, rather reflects that potential.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AxtdPvDojA.
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