The Unexpected Encounter: All of a Sudden and Mouse

Two of the strongest features at this year’s Chicago International Film Festival were All of a Sudden, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s Franco-Japanese study of reimagined elder care and of strangers who quickly become soulmates, and Mouse, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s Arkansas-set drama about a middle-aged mother and a teenage girl who feel but also force an intimate connection in the wake of a shared loss. This talk will explore stylistic and thematic bonds between these warm, haunted, soft-spoken masterpieces, which mirror their own plots by forming an unexpected, magnetic duo—and which prove that “global” and “local” filmmaking are really one and the same.

Recommended Moviegoing: Mouse (opening November 6 in Chicago) and All of a Sudden (opening November 25 in Chicago)

Recommended Home Viewing: Saint Frances (2020) and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)