‘Rumours’ Jokes About Looming Apocalypse – But It Isn’t That Funny, Is It? 

The apocalypse seems to be on a lot of filmmakers’ minds this year. The latest example: “Rumours,” an entirely quirky take on the end of the western world as seen through a disastrous G7 meeting, which premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. 

Starring Cate Blanchett as the leader of Germany, Charles Dance as the (oddly British accented) U.S. president and a host of other actors rounding out the G7, the film is a mix of genres that aims for satire but doesn’t quite achieve coherence. 

On the heels of Francis Ford Coppola’s sprawling ode to the decline of American power in “Megalopolis,” “Rumours,” directed by Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin and Evan and Galen Johnson, echoes the theme of Western haplessness and arrogance leading to disaster.