Canada, Germany | 2024 | 103m | English, French, Swedish, German

When the leaders of the G7 nations meet to draft a joint statement on some sort of vague worldwide catastrophe referred to only as “the current crisis,” they find themselves suddenly alone and threatened by creatures in the dark.

Rumours is sort of like a modern-day Dr. Strangelove, although it’s more silly than thoughtful. A few of the G7 leaders resemble their real-world counterparts; Cate Blanchett leads the group of fictional world leaders as the German Chancellor, and she definitely seems reminiscent of Angela Merkel. Likewise the Canadian Prime Minister, played by Roy Dupuis, resembles the real thing, with his flair for the dramatic and insistence on making sure everyone around him knows how much he “loves strong women.” On the flip side, the U.S. President speaks with a heavy British accent, which is never acknowledged or explained. (That’s it! That’s the joke!) It’s these parallels to (or blatant deviants from) real life where a lot of the humor of the movie comes from.

I thought the interactions between the actors was frequently enjoyable, and the final scene in particular was both smart and hilarious. In the Q&A afterwards, the three co-directors pointed out that it was not their intention for audiences to “depersonify” the characters, as tempting as it is given the characters’ roles as representatives of their countries. (In other words, don’t interpret scenes like “First France said this to Germany, and then Canada responded that way.”) Fair enough, but then, for me at least, I wasn’t really sure what this movie was trying to say. Rumours seems to revel in weirdness purely for the sake of comedy, not any deeper narrative point.

2.5/5

Viewed on September 9, 2024 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre as part of the Toronto International Film Festival 2024.