Cannes 2026 handed audiences a lesson in sustained emotional cinema: a three-hour-plus drama called All of a Sudden.
Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, coming off Oscar wins for Drive My Car, has crafted what may be his most devastating work. The film follows an unlikely bond between a French healthcare administrator (Virginie Efira) and a dying Japanese playwright (Tao Okamoto).
Efira and Okamoto won the Best Actress prize jointly for their performances. The chemistry between them carries the film's emotional weight throughout its length.
Here's the complication: Rolling Stone's definitive ranking of the 10 best films at Cannes 2026 named All of a Sudden the festival's best film. Yet the Palme d'Or went to Fjord instead.
A 20-minute sequence featuring a whiteboard lecture on capitalism became one of the fest's most talked-about moments. Hamaguchi transformed bureaucratic dialogue into compelling cinema.
The film is a study in treating the sick and elderly with dignity. Weighty themes emerge through intimate character work. Critics noted the three-hour length never drags.
The 79th edition of Cannes had a mixed slate overall, with several big-name directors disappointing. Hamaguchi reminded audiences why the festival retains its weight.
