Neon has set a Nov. 25 theatrical release date for “All of a Sudden,” the latest film from writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
The film premiered in competition earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where stars Virginie Efira and Okamoto Tao shared the prize for best actress. Efira will separately receive the Leopard Club Award at this year’s Locarno Film Festival for her body of work in cinema. Neon is planning an awards campaign for the release.
A French-Japanese drama spanning both countries, “All of a Sudden” continues Hamaguchi’s recurring interest in the bonds that form between strangers. The director, whose “Drive My Car” won the Academy Award for best international feature, co-wrote the screenplay with Léa Le Dimna. The script loosely draws on “When Life Suddenly Takes a Turn: Twenty Letters Between a Philosopher With Terminal Cancer and a Medical Anthropologist,” a collection of writings by Miyano Makiko and Isono Maho.
The story follows Marie-Lou (Efira), who runs a care facility for the elderly and pushes to introduce a new philosophy of care centered on listening and residents’ dignity, over the objections of some of her staff. Her outlook shifts after she meets Mari (Okamoto), a Japanese theater director facing a cancer diagnosis, and the two women form a close bond as they take on the challenge together.
