''Adults in the Room'' ( gr, Ενήλικοι στην αίθουσα, Enílikoi stin aíthousa) is a 2019 French-Greek political film directed by

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

. It is based on the book ''Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe's Deep Establishment'' by

Yanis Varoufakis Ioannis "Yanis" Varoufakis ( el, Ιωάννης Γεωργίου "Γιάνης" Βαρουφάκης, Ioánnis Georgíou "Giánis" Varoufákis, ; born 24 March 1961) is a Greek economist and politician. A former academic, he served as the Gree ...

about the 2015 Greek bailout. It is Gavras' first feature film that was shot in Greece.

Plot

In 2015, following

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

's victory in the 2015 Greek legislative election,

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Yánis Varoufákis is tasked by Prime Minister Aléxis Tsípras to negotiate a new deal on the memorandum of understanding signed by previous government with the

Troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Pol ...

in order to avoid facing another inevitable

debt crisis Debt crisis is a situation in which a government (nation, state/province, county, or city etc.) loses the ability of paying back its governmental debt. When the expenditures of a government are more than its tax revenues for a prolonged period, th ...

in the country months later. However, throughout successive meetings of the Eurogroup, Varoufákis's proposals are only met with flat refusals from the Troika. With constant threats from the European institution of an eviction of Greece from the Eurozone if their demands are not met, Greek PM Aléxis Tsípras is forced to sign the MoU, going against the 62% of the population that rejected the bailouts by voting "No" in the

2015 Greek bailout referendum A referendum to decide whether Greece should accept the bailout conditions in the country's government-debt crisis proposed jointly by the European Commission (EC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on 25 ...

. Yánis Varoufákis then resigned, five months after taking the office.

Cast

* Chrístos Loúlis: Yánis Varoufákis * Aléxandros Bourdoúmis: Aléxis Tsípras *

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. Early life and education Tukur spent his youth near Hannover where he finished his final secondary school examinations in 1977. He also earned a high sch ...

Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...

Daan Schuurmans Daniël Adrianus Augustinus "Daan" Schuurmans (born 24 January 1972) is a Dutch actor. He is married to Dutch actress Bracha van Doesburgh and they have a daughter named Sophia and twins sons named Kees and Boris. Career Schuurmans began his car ...

Jeroen Dijsselbloem Jeroen René Victor Anton Dijsselbloem (; born 29 March 1966) is a Dutch politician and economist serving as Mayor of Eindhoven since 13 September 2022, succeeding John Jorritsma (VVD). A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), he has also been Cha ...

* Dimítris Tárloou: Euclide Tsakalotos * Josiane Pinson:

Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; née Lallouette, ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th managing director of the ...

Valeria Golino Valeria Golino (born 22 October 1965) is an Italian actress and film director. She is best known to English-language audiences for her roles in ''Rain Man'', ''Big Top Pee-wee'' and the two ''Hot Shots!'' films, particularly the olive-in-the-bell ...

: Danái Strátou *

Aurélien Recoing Aurélien Recoing (born 5 May 1958) is a French actor and stage director. Personal life Aurélien Recoing is the son of (puppeteer), and the brother of (director and translator), Blaise Recoing (actor and musician), and David Recoing (pianist, ...

Pierre Moscovici Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2 ...

* Vincent Nemeth:

Michel Sapin Michel Sapin (; born 9 April 1952 is a French politician who served as Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2014 to 2017. He is a member of the Socialist Party. He was Minister of the Civil Service from 2000 to 2002 and Minis ...

* Francesco Acquaroli:

Mario Draghi Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of ...

* George Lenz: Head of the

* Philip Schurer:

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

* Damien Mougin:

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

* Aléxandros Logothétis: Mános * Chrístos Stérgioglou: Sákis * Cornelius Obonya: Wims * Thános Tokákis: Yórgos * María Protópappa: Elena * Thémis Pánou: Siágas * Kostas Antalopoulos: press contact for Wolfgang Schäuble * Skyrah Archer : Eurogroup secretary * Marina Argyropolo: Fenia *

Georges Corraface Georges Corraface ( el, Γιώργος Χωραφάς, ''Giórgos Chorafás'';) is a French actor of Greek descent, born on December 7, 1952 in Paris, France. He performed in film and television, following many years in French theatre, notab ...

: Greek ambassador to France * Giannis Dalianis * Adrian Frieling: Lithuanian minister of Finances

Release

The film was selected to play out of competition at the

76th Venice International Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019. Film director Lucrecia Martel was appointed as the President of the Jury. ''The Truth'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, was selected to open the fest ...

Reception

Jessica Kiang of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, "Far too many adults, in far too many rooms, have far too many repetitive conversations about the arcane ins-and-outs of EU policymaking in Costa-Gavras’ maddeningly unfocused 'Adults in the Room.'" Jordan Mintzer of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote, "For those interested in how the EU sausage is made — a process that Costa-Gavras mines both for its theatricality and seeming inanity — the film can be a gripping piece of infotainment, even if it runs long at 124 minutes. Others may shy away from so many administrative details, but they will be missing out on a movie that tries to cut through all the red tape and explore the human travails behind the protocols."

References

External links

* {{Costa-Gavras 2019 films 2019 biographical drama films Films about the European Union Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Costa Gavras Films set in the Great Recession Films set in 2015 Films set in Athens Films set in Berlin Films set in Brussels Films set in Frankfurt Films set in Greece Films set in London Films set in Paris Films set in Riga Films shot in Paris Films shot in Latvia Films shot in Brussels Films shot in Germany Films shot in London Films shot in Greece Films shot in Berlin French biographical drama films Greek biographical drama films 2010s French-language films 2010s German-language films 2010s English-language films English-language Greek films 2010s Greek-language films 2019 multilingual films French multilingual films Greek multilingual films 2010s French films French political films