Directed by Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, and Guy Maddin | Written by Evan Johnson | 103 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Crave
There’s something delightful about the fact this movie even exists — a satire about the deeply self-centred nature of human beings, even and especially their elected leaders, and how good they are at ignoring crises outside of their bubble. That said, it’s wildly uneven, with stretches where the filmmakers’ efforts at absurdity steer into inanity, occasionally interrupted by something chuckle-worthy.
One of the biggest leaps in plausibility is the casting of toffee-nosed British actor Charles Dance as the American president. He doesn’t even try to do an American accent — but maybe that’s part of the joke?
He’s one of the G7 leaders gathered together in Germany for their annual meeting, starring Cate Blanchett (Germany, and she manages a reasonable accent), Roy Dupuis (Canada), Nikki Amuka-Bird (UK), Takehiro Hira (Japan), Rolando Ravello (Italy), and the always excellent Denis Ménochet (France). Left alone in a gazebo for lunch, the seven leaders find themselves abandoned by their entourages as strange things seem to be going on back at the main building. Maybe something to do with bog mummies they witnessed earlier, the ones with their penises wrapped around their necks? Instead of going back there, they set out through the woods, only to encounter things harrowing, supernatural, and unexplainable — though never forgetting their duty to compose a preliminary progress statement — eventually running into a deeply disturbed Alicia Vikander… and a giant brain.
The movie happily lets us know how to feel about what we’re watching through its score: syrupy strings to bring in a scene of soapy romance — between the Canadian and UK PMs — and then scary tones when the picture starts to indicate a chance of zombies on the perimeter. The liminal scenes feature the odd bit of political silliness, but nothing here approaches the work of the high priest of such things, Armando Iannucci.
That said, there’s a curious pleasure in seeing where this odd concoction goes, and certainly Maddinophiles will likely be engaged. It’s also fun watching Dupius in a prominent role again, especially rubbing elbows with this international cast — but who in the hair and make-up department decided the Canadian Prime Minister would rock a man-bun? I know Trudeau does yoga, but a dude with that hair would kick-start a secession movement in all the provinces west of Manitoba .
