When the heads of government from the G7 arrive at a German castle for their annual summit, they expect it to amount to little more than a talking-shop fuelled by fine wine and fine dining before they issue a communiqué that will say precisely nothing of importance to anyone. Things start to look a bit odd, though, when the Canadian "Maxime" (Roy Dupuis) can't get a refill for his wine. Where have all the staff gone? No amount of bell ringing is summoning anyone and it's getting dark. Then Frenchman "Sylvain" (Denis Ménochet) sets off into the woods in search of his papers that have blown from the table and it's his return, covered in gloop, that really sets their teeth on edge. These are the most powerful folks from the "free world" and yet here they are alone and vulnerable - with no mobile phone signal! What now ensues does have quite a potent point to make, but the attempts to deliver that using a combination of soap and comedy just didn't work for me at all. Cate Blanchett is their German host "Hilda" (doing her best impersonation of Ursula von der Leyen) and it's clear she has a bit of thing for her Canadian counterpart who also appears to have had some previous assignation with the Brit (Nikki Amuka-Bird) who is close pals with the power-napping US President Charles Dance) who, in turn, seems to be the idol in the eye of the Italian "Antonio" (Rolando Ravello) who seems to be the only one remotely switched on as he had the presence of mind to pinch some salami from the buffet earlier! Maybe the solution to their predicament lies back at the house? Well that's where the thing really comes off the rails as a drama, where a combination of ultra modern day and chronologically ancient contrasting factors try to make sense of this increasingly insensible and laboured scenario. There is some potency from the last five minutes, in a nihilist sort of fashion, but otherwise the rest of it seems content to satirise something without actually being remotely funny. Dance maybe had the best idea: turn up, eat, drink, nap then wrap himself in tin foil. This is a missed opportunity, sorry.
