"There is much to mourn in this epic two-hander, which was inspired by the letters shared between terminal breast cancer patient Makiko Mayano and medical anthropologist Maho Isono, but few recent movies, or few movies at all, have been so rigorously insistent upon the reasons for hope. Indeed, "All of a Sudden" is centered around a scene in which the beautifully dying Mari - played by model and "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" actress Tao Okamoto, whose presence here at long lastbrings Hamaguchi's films into the Snyderverse - literally diagrams the state of the world on a whiteboard."
"Her impromptu Ted Talk doesn't solve for capitalism's insatiable appetite, but it illustrates the problem with a clarity that makes a workable solution feel possible within our own lives, if maybe not in Mari's own lifetime. And that is ultimately where Hamaguchi's attention lies: In the pain and promise of conceding to the fact that so much is still possible for this world and its people, no matter how grim the prognosis."
"And yet, for a movie that offers such an obvious continuation of his previous work (e.g. "Drive My Car," "Happy Hour"), the sweet and stirring " All of a Sudden" also takes Hamaguchi to places his work has never gone before. Namely: Paris, where most of the Japanese filmmaker's latest feature is set, but also - in an abrupt, almost contrite about-face from the environmental fatalism of 2023's " Evil Does not Exist " - a palliative realm of pure comfort."
"A talky, female-driven, 196-minute drama about the infinitely braided relationship between care and capitalism that's prone to Wiseman-like meeting scenes and frequent detours into the world of avant-garde theater? It almost feels redundant to say that Ryusuke Hamaguchi has returned."
A long, female-driven drama centers on the relationship between care and capitalism, using memory and conversation to connect personal suffering with broader social structures. The story is inspired by letters exchanged between a terminal breast cancer patient and a medical anthropologist. Much of the film takes place in a memory care unit in a Paris nursing home, where characters confront illness, loss, and the limits of what can be changed. A dying character diagrams the state of the world on a whiteboard, clarifying how the problem operates and suggesting that workable solutions may exist within everyday life. The film emphasizes hope despite grim prognoses, focusing on what remains possible for people and the world.
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