Hush, There Are Children in the Room !

Costa-Gavras’s latest movie, Adults in the Room, is a fantastic thriller taking place in Europe, especially in Greece, during the crisis of 2015. This movie is incredibly engaging, guiding us from Athens to Frankfurt, passing by Paris, London, and Berlin.

Adults in the Room is full of shenanigans and bickering. At first, it is really fun to follow Yánis Varoufákis during his trip in Europe. All the clichés about French, English, and others, make us laugh out loud, and it is entertaining to see all these men bickering about their differences – and when Christine Lagarde says “We need adults in this room”, the reference to the movie’s title is hilarious.

Not to mention the moment when we see “Emmanuel”. Amazing !

However, even if Adults in the Room is funny, it is also frightening, because it is true. The movie is based on the book of Yánis Varoufákis, the Greek Finance Minister from January 2015 to July 2015, and his experience in the European Union. It is stunning that what we see in the movie is actually what happened in reality. It is a bit scary to understand how politics work: everything that is said by Parliament members in front of the media is the contrary of what happened behind closed doors. Every act, every article, every single thing that is made by the European Institutions – in that case, the Eurogroup – is actually a game of power and money, even if, as Yánis Varoufákis quoted the Beatles, “Money can’t buy me love”. Adults in the Room leaves us breathless, astonished by Costa-Gavras’ powerful narration capacity, and apprehensive of what may happen with our institutions.

Mathilde Rozec.