Triangle of Sadness (2022)
“I’ll make you love me”
“I’m not obsessed with money!”
Winner of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or (with an 8 minute standing ovation no less) and nominated for 3 Oscars at this year’s upcoming Academy Awards (and in arguably the 3 most prestigious categories of Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay), Ruben Östlund (The Square, Force Majeure, Play) has created an intriguing tale of vacuity, wealth, power and obscene privilege that almost, almost works. Awkwardly funny at times, laugh out loud hilarious at others, the invasion of the so called “woke” culture and of the stifling stasis of political correctness bookends and ruins an otherwise largely enjoyable romp among the filthy rich and a slave class they’ve fortuitously escaped from.
Although split into three chapters entitled “Carl and Yaya”, “The Yacht” and “The Island”, the initial chapter is largely an aperitif for the gluttony of greed and excess that follows which is brilliantly and hideously realised at the halfway point by the “Captain’s Dinner” on board a $250 Million super yacht. Wait until you see THAT scene! Whilst all around him are losing their heads and minds in a raging storm (as well as the contents of their stomachs), picture a very drunk Woody Harrelson in his acting element as the yacht’s captain without a care in the world, before verbally jousting with an obese Russian oligarch — “I’m fucking rich!” on the yacht’s tannoy system. Capitalism. Marxism. Socialism. Wars of Empire. Wars of capitalistic conquest.
And Money. Money. Money. Money.
In a rich person’s world.
Then, as the movie posters would suggest, the film descends into Lord of the Flies territory!
Sadly, perhaps, not everyone survives the unseen crash that sees the filthy rich and the horribly exploited minimum waged poor wash up on the William Golding inspired island. Setting aside spoilers, you can either imagine the drunken captain or his new Russian oligarch friend surviving, or indeed the gaggle of hangers on that follow in their every footstep. Or perhaps a bevvy of beauties that support the upper levels of the yacht and their forced smiles of emptiness or the anonymous hard working immigrant class of the lower decks who are constantly on hand to clear up the mess of excess before the ship wrecks on Golding’s island. Perhaps it’s the elderly English couple who made their fortune in the weapons of a forever war or the German lady recovering from a stroke or another German native, this time a male who despite the oft refrain of “I’m fucking rich!” is adrift at sea, alone and very lonely.
Two of the spoiler free number that do wash up on the island are both the youngest aboard the yacht and the film’s arguable narrative through line. Although “Carl” (Harris Dickinson) and “Yaya” (Charlbi Dean) appear to their exalted wealthy company aboard the yacht to be two young lovers they are in fact ostensibly business partners and Instagram “Influencers”. To the huge hearty laugh and pleasure of Russian oligarch “Dimitry” (Zlatko Buric), the apparent young lovers have in fact been gifted their journey free, taking every opportunity to record and display their supposed influential pictures on Instagram. Thus they are the through line of empty enterprise and the entrepreneurial spirit that pervades the luxury of this Mediterranean cruise with the mega wealthy and the out of touch obscenity of the morally, if not financially, bankrupt.
They are also the horrible bookends and signposts to an otherwise intriguing film. Carl and Yaya dominate the beginning and end of the film and especially so a beginning of incredible awkwardness, pettiness and, after a Killing Zoe inspired opening credits, the vacuity and nonsense of woke, gender roles, equality, cultural values, money, prestige, beauty, power, control and of wanting to be correct, politically or otherwise. I found the opening 20 minutes or so despicably abhorrent with two imposters living other people’s lives whilst being wholly uncomfortable within their own. A petty squabble over who should or shouldn’t pay a restaurant bill turns into an excruciating taxi ride that spills into an aggressive face off inside a hotel between two “best friends” who clearly don’t like themselves let alone their supposed highly valued friend. “I’ll make you love me” announces Carl and boy didn’t that turn my stomach (even before THAT scene later in the film) and by its denouement and Yaya’s ridiculous woke put down of her friend for being too expressive with his hands, micro aggression's if you will, made me wish they hadn’t reached the island at all.
Two further back to back scenes aboard the yacht are noteworthy. One is of Dimitry and his trophy girlfriend with the second immediately after arguably even worse of a drunken reveller pushing and pushing a female crew member into something she clearly does not want to do but is pressured by the situation and social standing of the mega wealthy cheering her on. Both scenes are horribly repugnant.
“Can you relax your triangle of sadness?”
Maybe. But not around these detestable, hateful, unlikeable, vacuous, in it for themselves creatures of capitalistic excess.
“Triangle of Sadness” can also be found within my 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” on Amazon with each and every volume free to read should you have a Kindle “Unlimited” package. All 9 of my self-published books can also be read for free on Kindle (but go on, treat yourself to a paperback or hardback version!) and should you watch my short Youtube video linked in the middle of this article you’ll also find links to my Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee and other ways of supporting my work as an independent writer.
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection VOL.1" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.
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