World leaders assemble in Germany for their annual G7 summit tasked with drafting a provisional statement on the current (unspecified) crisis. Isolated from the media in a remote gazebo, they slowly set to work, distracted only by the personal anguish of Canada’s PM (Roy Dupuis), a handsome man beset with personal and political scandals. Yet as the evening draws in they realize there is something far greater amiss. Mysterious dark figures (Protestors? Terrorists? Goblins?) loom in the shadows. Panicked, the leaders of the free world stumble into the woods looking for safety.
This fantastic political satire scores big points for cheek, beginning with an opening caption thanking the G7 for their assistance. The casting is a hoot: Cate Blanchett as a horny German Chancellor… Denis Ménochet as the pretentious French President… Charles Dance as a befuddled, napping American Commander in Chief, who muses about setting up his own assassination. But this is a Canadian movie (the first feature in seven years from the Guy Maddin/Johnson brothers combo), so it’s fitting that our own Prime Minister should get the last word and the biggest catcalls.
Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson & Galen Johnson
Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupuis, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Charles Dance, Takehiro Hira, Denis Ménochet
Canada/Germany
2024
In English, French, Swedish and German with English subtitles
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Credits
Executive Producer
Ari Aster, Cate Blanchett, Phyllis Laing, Jörg Schulze, Joe Neurauter, Simon Ofenloch, Devan Towers, Jennifer Beasley, Tyler Campellone, Lina Flint, Mary Aloe, Gillian Hormel, Andrew Karpen, Kent Sanderson, Adrian Love, Michael O’Leary, Stefan Kapelari, Moritz Peters, Blair Ward, Anders Erdén, Lauren Case, Eric Harbert, Del Mondor, Shannon Ward, Michael Werry, George Heuser, Jacob Phillips, Stephen Griffiths, Christopher Payne, Sean Krajewski, Ronnie Exley, Lawrence Minicone, Jeremy Ross, Stephen Lamm, Dave Bishop, George Hamilton, James Pugh, Janina Vilsmaier, Judit Stalter, Gábor Sipos, Gábor Rajna, Fred Benenson, Morwin Schmookler, George Rush
Producer
Liz Jarvis, Philipp Kreuzer, Lars Knudsen
Screenwriter
Evan Johnson
Cinematography
Stefan Ciupek
Editor
John Gurdebeke, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
Original Music
Kristian Eidnes Andersen
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