For All of a Sudden, Ryusuke Hamaguchi asked his two lead actresses to do something unusual. Virginie Efira, French, would perform portions of the film in Japanese. Tao Okamoto, Japanese, would perform in French. Both learned the other's language for their roles.
Hamaguchi directed Drive My Car, which won the Academy Award for Best International Film in 2022. All of a Sudden is his first film made primarily in French.
At Cannes 2026, Efira and Okamoto shared the Best Actress prize. It was the first time a Japanese actress had won that award in the festival's history.
The film is 196 minutes and follows a nursing home director implementing a caregiving philosophy called Humanitude, built on the idea that every patient deserves to be treated as fully human until the end.
Someone on Backlot gave this a perfect five. If you loved Drive My Car, start here.
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