Rumours is a fantastic idea for a movie, if a high-concept one. And while it drags a bit in the middle, the final punchline is wonderful. That concept: A group of world leaders from the seven G7 countries gather at a summit in Germany to address some vague global crisis. Then, after they get lost in the woods, they’re confronted with a sci-fi nightmare scenario.
We soon realize that these powerful leaders find themselves helpless when they're faced with self-abusing bog monsters and a giant brain. At one point, one of them suggests they “wait for the authorities,” without realizing that, when it comes to the leadership of the world, they are the authorities. The political satire doesn’t get much more sharper-elbowed than that, but it’s still a glorious joke. The leaders all have somewhat complex histories with one another, including in some cases romantic, and the filmmakers find some creative things to do with this scenario.
This isn’t a high-budget alien invasion epic, and the effects are kept practical and 1950s-like. And because the film is set mostly in the woods, there’s no need for a large cast or many extras. You’d think there would be chiefs of staff or a press pool around. The film was directed by a trio of Canadian filmmakers, led by Guy Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World, My Winnipeg), known as central Canada’s most prolific experimental filmmaker (the other directors are brothers Evan and Galen Johnson.) For Maddin, as pointed in a recent New York Times magazine profile, this movie where world leaders go toe-to-toe with a giant brain might be the most accessible and mainstream work of his career.
Cate Blanchett plays the Merkel-esque chancellor of Germany, while Denis Ménochet is the president of France, Nikki Amuka-Bird the prime minister of the U.K., and Rolando Ravello is the prime minister of Italy. Takehiro Hira is the Japanese prime minister, and Roy Dupuis is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the film’s most interesting character as the prime minister of Canada. About to resign due to a boring financial scandal—described, ironically, to dramatic music—has a manbun, and is at different times a sensitive soul, and a man with a history of womanizing, included with his fellow world leaders. He also delivers the climactic, heroic speech that quotes a Canadian rock star, which isn’t something the Canadian prime minister does in many movies.
The film’s one real weak point is Charles Dance as the American president. He’s supposed to be a patrician WASP of the George H.W. Bush vein, and also notably old and in need of naps, like Joe Biden. But his English accent pokes through the entire time. Aside from Dance and the Australian Blanchett, all of the leaders are played by actors of their corresponding nationality.
After premiering at Cannes, Rumours has been on the fall festival circuit, making its final festival turn at the Philadelphia Film Festival before hitting theaters last weekend. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if the current crop of world leaders found themselves in this scenario, chances are, the answer is “doomed.”