- Director: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
- Screenplay: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
- Cast: Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, Roy Dupuis, Denis Menochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rolando Ravello, Takehiro Hira, Zlatko Buric, Alicia Vikander
- Cinematography: Stefan Ciupek
- Editing: John Gurdebeke, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
- Score: Kristian Eidnes Andersen
- Genre: Comedy horror
- Runtime: 104 minutes
At the annual G7 conference, world leaders from the UK, US, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy gather to write a statement regarding a recent crisis. What is this oh-so terrible predicament? We never find out directly but our group of politicians have a different emergency on their hands. Whilst out in a gazebo undertaking their assignment, night swiftly falls and all the staff vanishes. They’re left on their own with no connection to civilisation, so must traverse the dense, foggy forest to return to shelter. On their way, they encounter writhing bog zombies staggering in the mist. Oh, and a humongous brain. Anyone lost their mind? I think we’ve found it.
‘Rumours‘ takes the crown for the weirdest film of 2024 (a year in which sharks swam around the Colosseum in ‘Gladiator II‘ and Amy Adams transformed into a dog in ‘Nightbitch‘), I caught myself mouthing ‘what the f*ck?!’ more than a few times. The orchestral score is mesmerising, often playing as big a part as any of the cast, and in terms of visuals, it feels like one trippy descent into insanity, as if I’d dropped acid in the foyer and wandered in.
However, the experimental approach results in a lack of discernible plot, which meanders as though it went astray in the woodland, too. With a trio of writer-directors, you’d have thought one of them could muster up a comprehensible storyline. I guess they didn’t have the brains (try looking in the woods, you can’t miss it). And while I loved the ensemble nature of the troupe, the character development wasn’t thorough enough. It’s an attempt at satire and if there is a deeper meaning to nations banding together in the face of adversity, it got misplaced in the absurdity.
My rating: 5 / 10
SilverScreen 