Rumours (2024) Review

Rumours may have a mundane name, but this jet black horror comedy is one of the most insane films you will see all year – just don’t expect to understand it.

Set at the G7 summit in Dankwarderode Castle in Germany we meet the men and women who lead the most powerful countries on the planet. Assembling together to work on a provisional statement for the present crisis they eat, drink and pose for photos in the picturesque grounds of the ancient and eerie local.

Hosted by Hilda Ortmann (Cate Blanchet), the Chancellor of Germany we also meet elderly and oddly English accented Edison Wolcott (Game of Thrones and Alien 3’s Charles Dance), the President of the United States; poetic wannabe intellectual Sylvain Broulez (Inglorious Basterds Denis Ménochet), the President of France; practical and pragmatic Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka – Bird from Old and Knock on the Cabin), the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; stoic and quiet Tatsuro Iwasaki (Shogun and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters star Takehiro Hira), the Prime Minister of Japan; innocent and idiotic Antonio Lamorte (Rolando Ravello), the Prime Minister of Italy; and the over emotional and unpredictable Maxime Laplace (Roy Dupuis from La Femme Nikita), the Prime Minister of Canada.

After taking part in a photo call with a recently discovered iron-age bog person, whose mummified body had been found in the grounds with its penis severed and hung around its neck the world leaders are left alone in an idilic lake side gazebo to brainstorm.

Discussing the worlds problems as well as each others, things seem serene until the French PM’s papers are blown away and he disappears into the forest after them. Returning covered in blood and mud he says they are in a crisis revealing that not only is the castle they came from now completely abandoned with no-one in sight but that he was attacked by the bog person.

Doubtful at first the powerful pack of people start to worry when they find all their phones are not working and strange noises start coming from the woods around them. Things only get worse when some of the group are threatened by dark shadowy figures who seem very grumpy. Unsure if these were protestors or something more sinister the heads of state stay determined to do their nations proud by showing they can handle any threat and head off on a journey that neither they nor the audience could ever conceive.

Much in the style of the stupendous and surreal output of Quentin Dupieux whose mad movies include Smoking Causes Coughing, Rubber and Incredible but True, Rumours works best when you don’t question it too much and those willing to simply go along for the ride will most certainly be rewarded.

Written and directed by newcomers Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin, Rumours is a dark bitting satire that confuses and confounds its viewers and wont be too everyones tastes. Blending a political docudrama set up with shocking and mad moments of horror the weird tone and over the top acting could put some people off but those that are engaged will be throughly entertained.

Constantly spouting complex phrases and governmental buzz words but seemingly saying nothing the characters switch between their nonsensical high powered pondering and teenage personal issues. Becoming more and more emotional as it progresses the unsettling soundtrack also includes soup opera style music used in the same way as in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, making scenes spin off in all sorts of overly dramatic and disturbing directions.

Ridiculous and inappropriate, huge credit goes to the great cast who take the absurd scenario deadly seriously and imbue each leader with their own peculiarities. Centre to everything is Dupuis as Canadian PM Maxime, a man so ruled by his passion and feelings he seems straight out of a terrible daytime TV drama. Blanchett is brilliant as usual playing Hilda as part Angela Merkel and part Desperate House Wife and Ravello also gets special mention for somehow making his racist Italian premiere a sympathetic simpleton.

At times as hilarious as it is horrifying Rumours avoids direct political comment making it more about how when faced with the truly unknown the planets most powerful people are as dumb, useless and scared as everyone else, a statement that feels even more relevant today than ever before.

Movie Rating: