Given the current political state of the world, a movie about the G7 probably doesn't sound like your next must-see addition to the ever-growing watchlist. But how about a G7 movie that sees the likes of Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, Alicia Vikander, and Roy Dupuis — all adopting bizarre accents — playing inept world leaders whose cosy little Summit gets upended by the discovery of a mummified corpse, some funny business with a giant brain, and more ill-advised, high-powered rumpy-pumpy than you can shake an episode of early season Game Of Thrones at? Because that's exactly what it looks like we're in for with Rumours, a genre-hopping new satire from The Green Fog filmmakers Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson, and producer Ari Aster. Check out the bonkers new trailer below:
Where do you even begin to break down that trailer? It looks like a Wes Anderson joint, has the tone of something blue you'd find at a video store in the mid-90s, and its pool of references seems to range from Night Of The Living Dead to Carry On to The Cabin In The Woods. Seriously, within the first 10 seconds we get Blanchett's German PM Hilda Ortmann talking about unearthed "bog bodies" and Charles Dance indulging in some Kenneth Williams worthy innuendo, and before the two-and-a-half-minute red band reel is through, we've had Roy Dupuis slinging makeshift projectiles at the undead, Blanchett making the beast with two backs in the middle of the woods during the suspected apocalypse, and did we mention the giant brain? Because that, too!
For what sense it'll help you make of everything, here's the official synopsis: "Rumours follows the seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies at the annual G7 summit, where they attempt to draft a provisional statement regarding a global crisis… These so-called leaders become spectacles of incompetence, contending with increasingly surreal obstacles in the misty woods as night falls and they realize they are suddenly alone."
In a week where we've seen Lionsgate ink a deal with Runway to mine its library for AI training, James Cameron join the board of directors at Stability AI, andLondon's Evening Standard newspaper unveil plans to use Artificial Intelligence to perform necromancy on art critic Brian Sewell amid huge job cuts, Rumours — as utterly barmy and totally wild as it seems — looks to be a timely reminder of the fact that no machine can match the sheer creative spontaneity of the human brain. Giant brains, Iron Age mummies, iffy accented Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, and more? Roll on 6 December, Rumours' UK release date, we say. And long may such cinematic lunacy, hand built by humans, continue.