Rumours (2024): One Whisper Can Tear the World Apart

When power fears the truth, even silence becomes a weapon of mass confusion.

Rumours (2024) is a razor-sharp political satire wrapped in absurdist comedy, co-directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson. The film brings together an eclectic ensemble of world leaders trapped in an increasingly surreal summit, where misinformation spreads faster than facts, and the fate of global diplomacy hangs on misheard phrases and ego-driven chaos.

The story unfolds during the G7 Summit in a secluded forest retreat in Europe. As presidents, prime ministers, and dignitaries gather to negotiate climate accords and economic reforms, a series of bizarre events derail the agenda — missing documents, phantom broadcasts, and an unknown voice that begins transmitting cryptic threats across all channels. With no one able to confirm the source or intent, paranoia takes hold, alliances unravel, and diplomacy gives way to hysteria.

What begins as a serious negotiation descends into a farcical power struggle, with each leader convinced the others are conspiring against them. The film cleverly mirrors our modern era of information overload, weaponized gossip, and performative leadership, with the absurd escalating into the apocalyptic. As trust collapses and leaders retreat into personal delusions, the line between rumor and reality vanishes.

Maddin and the Johnsons deploy their signature visual style — lo-fi surrealism, disorienting camera work, and deadpan humor — to transform a political summit into a hall of mirrors. Performances by an international cast of actors (including Cate Blanchett, Denis Lavant, and Charles Dance) give each character a grotesque charisma, blending satire with genuine pathos as they struggle to hold onto relevance, truth, and sanity.

Rumours is not just a commentary on geopolitics — it’s a reflection of a world gripped by uncertainty, where truth has become subjective and the consequences of fear are global. Wildly inventive and deeply unsettling, it shows how the collapse of communication might be the final domino in the downfall of civilization.