“Rumours” (2024) Review
Director: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson Screenwriter: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson Cast: Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupuis, Denis Ménochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rolando Ravello, Takehiro Hira, Zlatko Burić, Alicia Vikander Distributor: Paramount Running Time: 104 min. MPAA: R
There’s a peculiar reflection within Rumours, a film about world leaders being exposed as pretentious amid a crisis they so vaguely observe. The attempt to weave political satire with some horror comes from three directors and screenwriters. What they produce ends up being as insightful as the meandering statements of the central characters, more caught up in dressing the dry humor with fancy fonts than clever conversations of political dunces.
The film takes its time introducing its assortment of world leaders who have gathered for the G7 summit. The lineup includes Cate Blanchett as the stuffy Chancellor of Germany, Charles Dance as the weary President of the United States, and Roy Dupuis as the disillusioned Prime Minister of Canada. They all have their issues, including affairs and scandals, that they try to set aside as they gather at a gazebo to address a global crisis. What’s the crisis? They never really get around to addressing that issue. Akin to a writer stricken with block, these leaders spend more time talking about their desire not to be pompous instead of doing actual work. These are the folks who will spend an entire day trying to decide on a title rather than a paragraph.
Thankfully, the film doesn’t waste all its time with this single-joke premise. As night falls, fog fills the air, and the leaders find themselves alone. Mysterious bog people have risen from the ground and stalk the grounds. Security is nowhere to be seen. A giant brain defies any political excuse they might give for what they are witnessing. But, again, the joke is still the political reasoning inherent in how these stuffy leaders address this horror scenario. Every strange development is met only with a dry reasoning of offering up some explanation that only provides comfort to those politicians with the most limited of imaginations.
There’s a lot of wild stuff that happens in this movie, given the presence of a giant brain and monsters that seem to masturbate and explode. But much like how the characters get lost in the woods, this film stumbles around trying to find funny stuff to exploit and struggles to craft the comedy from so little. There are some hilarious moments, but they’re few and far between, showcasing rare doses of cleverness. It’s only when the characters start getting lost in their wacky, Strangelove-esque logic that the film begins to find a silly groove. My favorite conversation is when the group gets a text from a little girl, and they debate whether or not it’s a real girl or an automated honeypot trap meant to lure pedophiles. They figure posing as a pedophile will bring the authorities to save them and debate how flirty they should be with a child. It’s a decent bit that the film could use more of, given how much it blusters with its basic premise for dry political humor that struggles to mix with absurd horror.
Rumours lacks comedy and cleverness for a film where the one joke is that it can never quite get to the point. Despite the impeccable casting present here, this is a film that confines these incredible actors in a peculiar situation and never really finds much to do with them beyond some surface-level satire. It’s a real shame because, if you squint hard and cock your head, you can see a masterful piece of authority scrutiny within this ridiculous assembly. Of course, you might end up spinning theories as pretentious as the characters.
