OnScreen Review: "Triangle of Sadness"
Ken Jones, Chief Film Critic
The lifestyles of the rich and famous are always ripe for satire and lampooning, maybe even more so now in an Instagram world. Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness is just that kind of film, taking a blowtorch to the façade of the present day boujee types.
My only previous encounter with Östlund was 2014’s Force Majeure, in which a moment of cowardice on a ski vacation completely undermines an entire family dynamic. It is darkly comedic and incredibly uncomfortable, in a David Brent sort of way. I missed The Square when it came out, but was encouraged to hear that Triangle of Sadness was the Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It also comes out shortly after the death of one of its stars, actress and model Charlbi Dean, who passed away unexpectedly in August.
The film is broken into three basic parts, with the first focusing on the relationship between Dean’s Yaya and Harris Dickinson’s Carl, two models who are together for the purpose of growing their social media brands. The middle portion of the film takes place on a luxury cruise aboard a superyacht that the two of them are invited to as guests. They mingle with the various members of the upper crust on board, while the reclusive Captain Thomas Smith (Woody Harrelson) attempts to keep to his quarters. The third act of the film takes place on an island after a mishap with the ship leaves the survivors stranded and previous statuses are thrown out the window as a new power dynamic is asserted based on survival skills, with an unlikely crewmember named Abigail (Dolly de Leon) running the show.
Östlund leans right into the uncomfortable right off the bat with the opening foray into the fashion world and Carl’s auditioning for work. He then ratchets it up a level in a protracted spat between Yaya and Carl over money and power dynamics in a relationship that starts over paying the bill at a restaurant, continues in front of an uncomfortable rideshare, and finally reaches its peak in the elevator. It is increasingly cringe-inducing and awkward until it ends in a surprisingly frank and refreshing conversation in the hotel room where they make peace.
Life on the boat is rife with satire and gross out comedy. Among the people on board, a British couple who manufactured landmines and grenades, a woman who can only speak one German sentence after having a stroke, a Russian oligarch who is a capitalist at heart (who has a drunken philosophical tête-à-tête with Harrelson’s Captain, an avowed Marxist), and a lonely tech billionaire. Slaving away under all of them is the ship’s crew, led by Paula (Vicki Berlin), the head of staff, trying to make every accommodation possible to get great tips from all these fat cats.
Another incredibly uncomfortable scene between a young member of the crew and an older, lonely lady who insists she join her in the pool in a bit of role reversal ends up being the catalyst for everything going wrong later on at the Captain’s Ball, where a combination of seasickness from a storm and spoiled food leads to an extended amount of gross out humor as nearly every wealthy person on the ship is brought low and humiliated by an excessive amount of sickness that is equal parts repulsive and sidesplitting.
Finally, on the island, the survivors left to fend for themselves in what is more or less an adult version of Lord of the Flies. Most of the survivors are incapable of fending for themselves, and this leads to the reversal of the hierarchy of the boat and the rich relying on Abigail, who can fish, make fire, and do pretty much everything they need to survive, but not without conditions and establishing who is the boss. The film culminates in a slightly obvious ironic twist that is made no less enjoyable if you know it is coming.
Triangle of Sadness is sure to gross out a few people, but it should also have just as many people or more rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. Östlund is audacious and fearless to go to such an extreme with his film in the second act. The cast delivers pitch perfect lines of awkwardness and discomfit throughout. If you like your satire dark and slightly twisted and you like cringe comedy, Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness is for you. But also maybe have a barf bag on hand just in case.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars