Triangle of Sadness

At its top layer, "Triangle of sadness" is a skillfully harsh comedy/parody, proudly absurd with a good dose of "cringe" in each of its 3 parts. Yes, it's funny and yes it's rude and over the top, but how else could it be since it tries to point a finger at our contemporary society?

If you follow the path that Östlund opens up for you, you might notice that beneath the strangely entertaining package the director tires to bring to light weakness found in aparent strength and not only this, but he also implies that no matter how much you try to "strip" people of their social shell, deep inside they can never really change.

Absolutely recommended and definitely worth the Palme d'Or it got this year!

This is why I used to go to theaters - to watch thought provoking entertaining movies. While there may be little to no blood - this movie is brutal. No stone is left unturned as you move through society's expectations of class, money and sexual politics. This is not light breezy fun and is sure to turn your stomach just watching it at times. This is a return to an original script not based on some comic book or sequel of some long drawn out franchise. I mean you could watch another DC/Marvel movie but is there a point to that anymore? This is in my humble opinion the best movie of 2022 (so far).

Writer-Director Ruben Ostlund fancies himself as a filmmaker specializing in social satires. As the title hints at, his heavy-handed TRIANGLE OF SADNESS is broken up into three chapters. What connects the three are a fashion modeling pair, Carl (Harris Dickson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean; in her final role).

The conceited couple end up on a luxury cruise ship which includes a contingent of Russian oligarchs. It's captained by an erratic commander in Woody Harrelson, leaving much of the crew discipline up to Paula (Vicki Berlin). As in FORCE MAJEURE and THE SQUARE, Ostlund is fond of having a big set piece at the center: the avalanche in FORCE, the ape man at the fundraiser in SQUARE. In TRIANGLE OF SADNESS it's a Captain's Dinner set during a storm. Anybody who's seen Marco Ferrari's LA GRAND BOUFFE or Monty Python's MEANING OF LIFE will be prepared for the aftermath of the combo of fine dining and sea-sickness that follows. And, then things get even worse for Carl, Yaya and the rest of the guests and crew.

Ostlund has never been a subtle filmmaker, but, even by his standards, TRIANGLE OF SADNESS hits its targets too directly and on point from the very start with an over-extended prologue showing how superficial the fashion world is - stop the presses! Ostlund is too talented for the movie to be totally bereft of humor, but, he beats his targets over the head so firmly that whatever insights or laughs get drowned out in the process.

The final act, the aftermath of the cruise ship's calamities, has a certain effectiveness even if it's too drawn out. Dolly De Leon as Abigail, a cleaning woman, comes to the fore in this section and gives the movie a genuine spark or two. The rest of the cast do what they can with the the script (Ostland's first primarily in the English language - maybe the nuances got lost in the translation). Zlatko Buric is particularly effective as a boorish Russian passenger. Production-wise, TRIANGLE is well made with good use of the locations, including the main setting on the Cristina O yacht; But in the end, it's the failure of Ostlund to have anything to say -- let alone with wit and wisdom - that sinks this production.

We watched it just a few days after we learned the death of Charlbi Dean, so I expected an awakward experience, but the film pulled me in from the first minutes. It was much lighter and much more fun than I expected - the title is misleading as "sadness" is absolutely not a topic in the film. However, it deals with quite a lot of topics such as richness, power, capitalism/socialism, and so much more... without preaching or suggesting anything. And it is funny and entertaining from start to finish, sometimes even going into satire. A definitely must watch where you don't feel at all that the runtime is over 2 hours. A very European, very international, very likable movie with stellar performances and a very funny but believably absurd story.

You have probably never seen a movie like this one. Its craziness is simply undeniable, juggling the grotesque to perfection to paint an unflattering picture of the highest social castes. But while one could be reluctant to see yet another moralizing movie where "the rich are the bad ones and the poor are the good ones", Triangle of Sadness succeeds in going further. Indeed, every protagonist can be made fun of as, through the movie, they all reveal their flaws and their greed.

However, the movie remains first and foremost a clever satire of the highly wealthy. They give ridiculous speeches, make senseless demands and look down on the boat crew. Also, the great acting helps bringing humor in this sometimes blood-curdling picture. Finally, seeing how every character evolves through the various events is really interesting for this purpose.

The message is that money and power pervert you, going with the usual critique of capitalism. While this theme is quite recurrent, the odd way this movie brings it makes it very interesting, shouting out loud what we all already know. 7/10.