Soudain (All of a Sudden). 2026. France/Japan/Germany/Belgium. Directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Screenplay by Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna, based on the book by Maho Isono, Makiko Miyano. With Virginie Efira, Tao Okamoto, Kyôzô Nagatsuka. DCP courtesy NEON. 196 min.
Based on an exchange of letters between philosopher Makiko Miyano and medical anthropologist Maho Isono, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s film depicts the remarkable chance encounter in Paris of Marie-Lou, a French nursing home director and caregiver, and Mari, a Japanese theater director facing terminal cancer. As they spend time together after a performance of one of Mari’s plays and at the nursing home where Marie-Lou implements a new program of radical empathy for the patients’ bodies and souls against skeptical colleagues, both connect over longing, sentimental aspirations, and the sociopolitical strains that have driven their life choices and shaped their communities. All of a Sudden isn’t just a fascinating look into our era’s anxieties and injustices, it’s also a moving testimony to the power of human empathy in an era that may make you think there is none.
Tickets are available to members at the Explore category and above beginning two weeks before each screening date. Additional tickets will be released to members and the general public one week before each screening date. Please note that space is extremely limited and tickets will be in high demand. Tickets can be reserved at moma.org/contenders beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.
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