Triangle of Sadness is a 2022 comedy movie written and directed by Ruben Östlund starring Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Woody Harrelson and Zlatko Buric. The film won the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Hierarchies are inversed, norms are challenged in this interesting and humorous film that does not shy away from commenting on human folly and social norms.
Premise
The fashion celebrity couple and influencers, Carl and Yaya, are invited on a luxury yacht cruise exclusively for the top 0.9% in the wealth hierarchy. Onboard they will meet some interesting characters: Dimitry, the Russian oligarch and his wife Vera, the elderly British couple Clementine and Winston the arms dealer, and the lonely tech billionaire, Jarmo. At the helm of the crew and yacht is the rather unbalanced Captain Smith. What initially appears instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival.
Movie Review
Do know of those people who, wanting to feign stupidity, are incapable of disguising their smarts? Well, that is precisely what afflicts Triangle of Sadness, however vulgar or magnificent or extremist the situations presented might be, it manages to retain the traction in its narrative and does so, intelligently. It is precisely that game of opposites that makes this movie maddeningly balanced.
‘Triangle of Sadness’ is a very intelligent satire about how stupid we all are if we are deprived of millions in fortune, deprived of followers or deprived of any status endowing aspect we might have, and, well, given the circumstances of complete loss we might as well have a good time despite…. everything.
A movie that plays at being as transcendental as it does at being inconsequential. With its touch of surrealism, and constant winks knowing all too well how to laugh at the apparently highbrow cultured cinema with satire, thereby assuming the form of that said satire with a powerful scalpel that dissects its characters while throwing them overboard into the abyss of surrealism.
This is a movie that captivates you in its idiosyncratic style, and that at all times knows how to take you over onto its terrain. It is a playful film, and knows how to play, and ultimately, as any good player does, wins the match, a match in which the spectator knows all along he would lose.
There are some wonderful scenes, and unforgettable dialogues like the scene in the dining room where only the Captain (Woody Harrelson) the Oligarch (Zlatko Burić) are the few left “standing” amidst the storm, exchanging quotes of prominent capitalists and communists alike. Or Carl (fantastically portrayed by Harris Dickinson) delivering his good old neurotic reactions in his relationship with Abigail (so well interpreted by Dolly de Leon).
A movie that has it all, outstanding screenplay, performances, and a sharp take on comedy.
Superb, different, entertaining, and substantial.
Other Reviews
“The thing about Östlund is that he makes you laugh, but he also makes you think. There’s a meticulous precision to the way he constructs, blocks and executes scenes.”
“Wildly funny (…) it’s also the perfect comedy for our times (…) For the majority of the film, Östlund’s combination of sledgehammer and scalpel work a treat”
Director
Ruben Östlund
Ruben Östlund is a Swedish filmmaker. Born April 13, 1974 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He has been awarded the Palme d’Or twice, first for his movie The Square (2017), and in 2022 for Triangle of Sadness. Other movies in his filmography include The Guitar Mongoloid (2004), Involuntary (2008) and Play (2011)Force Majeure (2014), and a short Incident by a Bank (2011), which was awarded the Golden Bear for Best Short at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. Östlund is married to fashion photographer Sina Görcz.
Cast
 Charlbi Dean / Yaya |  Harris Dickinson / Carl |  Woody Harrelson / Captain Thomas Smith |
 Zlatko Burić / Dimitry |  Henrik Dorsin / Jorma Björkman |  Iris Berben / Therese |
 Sunnyi Melles / Vera |  Dolly de Leon / Abigail |  Vicki Berlin / Paula |
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