Rumours Review

Rumours (2024) Film Review from the 62nd Annual New York Film Festival, a movie directed by Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin, written by Evan Johnson and starring Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Roy Dupuis, Denis Menochet, Takehiro Hira, Alexa Kennedy, Ralph Berkin, Alicia Vikander and Zlatko Buric.

Rumours is an awkward but daring new science fiction comedy from directors Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin. The film is about a collective group of democratic leaders known as the G7 who gather in isolation to work on forming a proper political statement. This film is bold and unique even though there are many cringe-worthy moments that take the audience away from the action to reflect. That could well be the point, though, and the movie is to be commended for not shying away from difficult subject matter while adding some wildly inane comedy to the mix as well.

This film begins by introducing each character and their role in the G7. Cate Blanchett is featured as German chancellor, Hilda Orlmann. Blanchett is no stranger to taking on oddball roles these days and her intriguing performance here comes on the heels of her work in the box-office dud, Borderlands. Meanwhile, Charles Dance portrays the President of the United States, Edison Wolcott. Other characters on board include Canadian Prime Minister, Maxime LaPlace (Roy Dupuis) and the UK Prime Minister, Cardosa Dewindt (the always terrific Nikki Amuka-Bird). Eventually, Alicia Vikander appears as Celestine Sproul, the the Secretary-General of the European Commission, but more about her later.

At the beginning, the movie gets the witty dialogue flowing. In the early stages, a lot of the jokes are hit-or-miss but the film is ultimately headed in a direction that is impossible to predict from the opening moments. As the central characters become lost in the woods, the plot thickens as the obscure political crew must form a plan to escape when they discover their means of traveling over the local waters have been compromised.

There are a lot of moments that will ruffle more conservative people’s feathers. One such scenario involves an AI device that is used to track sexual predators. Maxime receives a text message that is supposedly from a lost little girl who needs help. Hilda suggests that it is not a real girl but rather a method to catch child molesters. So, what happens is that Maxime plays along with the message to get help to come and rescue them. Hilda suggests taking the texts up a notch to ensure that the authorities get there. Hilda also suggests at one point that politicians are more likely to be predators than normal people. Some of this is wacky but it’s still humorous in a twisted and demented sort of way.

Blanchett is funny in a commendable turn that proves the Oscar-winning actress is not afraid to take big risks. As Maxime, Roy Dupuis gets some of the meatier scenes in the picture that include him having sexual relations with a key character. The phenomenal Amuka-Bird sinks her teeth into her role and gives the audience a performance that has a bit of seriousness to it in an otherwise comic movie. Meanwhile, Denis Menochet as Sylvain Broulez, the President of France, gets some screen time that highlights the actor’s comic abilities to a tee. Takehiro Hira also gets a few moments to shine playing a relatively minor character in the action known as Tatsuro Iwasaki.

By the time the aliens arrive, the movie is a mess and it starts to get sloppier. A huge brain appears that brings Vikander’s character into the picture who appears to have been affected by the alien invasion. This is a thankless role for Vikander but the actress nevertheless acquits herself admirably with her off-beat turn. The film dives into a quest for help that is ultimately going to be an uphill battle for the G7. Aliens are around and it will take a miracle to escape the woods even though things look promising when two of our characters manage to swim their way to get help for the others.

Alien invasion spoofs usually land with a thud but Rumours takes the premise to the max and creates interest in the plot with some zany situations that are more humorous than was expected despite the movie’s sloppiness in regards to some of its character development. Roy Dupuis runs away with the movie and he’s welcome to it while heavy-hitters Blanchett and Dance do some of the heavy lifting as well with Blanchett far exceeding Dance in terms of the quality of their performances.

Rumours is a wicked good time if you can let some of the more offensive jokes roll off you. This is not a movie that will please mainstream audiences but those who have an active interest in politics will find the comedy here hits more often than misses. As for the aliens, they get some screen time that establishes their role in the action but this is the type of movie where the humans are far more interesting, however warped those humans may seem throughout.

Rating: 7/10

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