Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Director - Ruben Östlund, Cinematography - Fredrik Wenzel

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell."

Triangle of Sadness (2022) dir. Ruben Östlund

Triangle of Sadness

A cruise for the super-rich sinks, leaving the survivors, including a celebrity fashion couple, stranded on a deserted island.

This year's Palme d'Or when to Triangle of Sadness, directed by Ruben Ostlund. And as always with Cannes, it would be a divisive film. Triangle of Sadness absolutely lives up to that divisiveness with the film being a satire on the super-rich, and it completely delivers on that aspect.

Triangle of Sadness is a near-perfect "eat the rich" satire. Ostlund masterfully portrays the fake and narcissistic personalities of the super-rich. From their complete lack of awareness of others and their narcissism, it's perfect. The writing is sharp and filled with witty, comedic dialogue. The classic use of slapstick comedy, further adds to this masterful satire. The story is the right amount of over-the-top satire and realism, that is worthy of the Palme d'Or. My only issue is the first act because the comedy does not stick as well and feels a bit out of place.

All of the actors bring their comedic a-game for this film. Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean (may she rest in peace), perfectly portray the toxic and fake celebrity couple. Dolly de Leon masterfully showcases when someone of lower class status is put into a position of power and how easily they become corrupt. Furthermore, the chemistry between Woody Harrelson and Zlatko Buric was perfection. Both of them had fantastic banter, and Buric is easily my favorite performance of this film. The remaining cast members masterfully bring their comedic chops to this glorious satire.

Overall, Triangle of Sadness is a masterful satire that deserved the Palme d'Or. It's hysterical and thought-provoking, and I hope it gets some love from the Academy.

I am giving Triangle of Sadness, an A-.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

WATCHLIST 2023: Triangle of Sadness

Charlbi

Aww I just saw Nafessa's Instagram post. The actress who played Syonide on Black Lightning passed. 😔 She was a badass, the actress and the character.

Triangle of Sadness (2022), dir. Ruben Östlund

Rest in peace, Charlbi Dean. Only 32 years old. Actress and Model, described as a true potential with her upcoming film ‘Triangle of sadness’. Life can be so cruel

Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Planes, trains, and automobiles truly have found the most poetic way to distill our societal fetish for stratification. Traveling on a luxury cruise establishes a way to commodify privilege, and Ruben Östlund’s blistering satire cuts that to the core. Conspicuous consumption defines the luxurious lives of the antagonist-fools who charter the cruise, from model couple Carl and Yaya to the Russian plutocrat to the tech billionaire loser. They have the crew at their beck and call, making wild demands for their own amusement. They entertain delusions of egalitarianism, calling themselves philanthropists and claiming that at their core everyone is equal. One of the Russian entourage call this out before demanding all of the crew jump in the ocean for her, and the preposterous fashion show Yaya walks for blazes that slogan EVERYONE IS EQUAL in a moment of profound post-irony. All of society serves these privileged few, both on the boat and off. Yet there are tiers to this. The middle class of society-ship have more face-time with the wealthy, speak perfect English, and have more desirable jobs. The lush of a captain entertains notions of socialism between swills of drink, and for the stewards, they will do whatever their overlords bid in the hope of a good tip at the end of the ordeal. Below them are the working class laborers, cleaning the staterooms and mopping the shit. Looking at them or engaging with them is unthinkable, and they spend their idle hours in anonymous, windowless rooms.

External forces are the great equalizers. A storm ravages the stately captain’s dinner, rendering it a farce as the wealthy vomit and shit themselves. And then pirates sweep in to deal with the rest. At the end of it all, a handful remain, all reliant upon a toilet manager for their survival and well-being. Yet as the film wears on and transitions from ship to desert island, Östlund’s satire becomes decidedly less juvenalian and more humanist, or at least ambivalent in its views toward society. It’s fun to mock the rich, to enjoy the karmic payoff of disgusting wealthy people coated in shit or vomiting and wallowing in indignity. It’s delightful that the war profiteers bemoaning UN regulations are blown up by their own product. But that in and of itself doesn’t have more than surface appeal. As society realigns itself on the island, it becomes one of almost childish glee, the islanders mocking Carl as he becomes devoted to their new matriarch, and even jealous Yaya manages to have some moments of sincerity. This isn’t some operatic vindictive masturbation piece about the rich learning their lesson or the poor falling to the same level once they have that sort of power, or some grand build to self-destruction. That would be too easy. The film is nihilistic. Sudden, jarring changes shake the characters to their core time and again. But that sort of change is just kind of funny, at the end of the day. The things people will do for a pretzel stick.

THE RULES

SIP

Someone vomits.

A staff member complies with a ludicrous request.

SCREAMING!

BIG DRINK

Cheap joke about Communism or Capitalism.

Someone snaps a photo for their socials.

sophs-style:

Charlbi Dean Kriek (wearing Christian Dior Haute Couture) at the 'Triangle Of Sadness' premiere during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on Saturday (21st May) in Cannes, France.

💙

The cast of Triangle of Sadness having some fun at Cannes