With the state of world politics the way it is, it might feel like it is better to laugh or you might cry. With that in mind, political satire Rumours attempted to bring the laughs to the Cannes Film Festival.
The leaders of seven wealthy democracies, the G7, get lost in the woods while at their annual retreat drafting a statement on a global crisis, facing danger as they attempt to find their way out.
The satire starts off with a rapid fire gag rate, with a strong hit ratio. Mostly at the expense of the current political climate and its leaders. In particular Italy. However after that strong opening act, it does run out of steam and becomes quite a slog and chore to sit through.
The material simply isn’t strong enough to sustain itself over its runtime. However the standouts that make the most of what they have to work with are Cate Blanchett as the Andrea Merkel-esque German Chancellor and Denis Minochet as the French Prime Minister.
As the plot moves into the leaders finding their way out of the woods while pursued by mysterious creatures, the film would have worked better by switching from satire to a straight up slasher/horror. Having the leaders being picked off one by one, and the fallout and team dynamic shifts that come with that.
The issue with a rumour, is that for it to truly last and make an impact, it has to keep up momentum and be shocking or memorable. If not, it becomes a garbled mess. A Chinese whisper that is a shadow of its original self.
Rumours had its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival
Rating: 
Director: Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Guy Maddin
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, Denis Minochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Alicia Vikander
Runtime: 118 minutes
Country: Australia
