2026 Refocus Film Festival Audience Award Winner
"The rarest type of film, not merely good enough to remind you what cinema can be, but great enough to remind you what life can be."—Jessica Kiang, Variety
Marie-Lou (Virginie Efira) runs a nursing home near Paris and strives for more humane elder care but is plagued by labor shortages and is butting heads with her staff in practicing the "Humanitude" method of care. She develops a friendship with Mari (Tao Okamoto), a Japanese theatre director facing terminal cancer. Their strong bond transforms each of their lives, and together, they turn the facility into a symbol of resistance and humanity against the system’s limits.
Loosely based on a series of letters published in the book You and I – The Illness Suddenly Get Worse by Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono, director Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) gives us a decidedly tender look at friendship with two towering performances; Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared Best Actress at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.