Directed By Ruben Ostlund

Starring – Charlibi Dean, Harris Dickinson, Woody Harrelson

The Plot – While navigating the world of fashion and establishing the boundaries of their relationship, a couple (Dean, Dickinson) are invited for a luxury cruise with a rogues’ gallery of super-rich passengers, a Russian oligarch, British arms dealers and an idiosyncratic, alcoholic, Marx-quoting captain. At first, all appears copacetic. But a storm is brewing, and soon the snobby and uncompassionate customers find their once lavish luxuries a never-ending nightmare, a thousand miles at sea.

Rated R for adult language and some sexual content

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS – Official Trailer – In Theaters October 7 – YouTube

POSITIVES

In an age where audacious filmmaking is unfortunately a rarity among contemporary cinema, along comes “Triangle of Sadness” and specifically Ostlund, who once more concocts an unnerving social commentary dissecting another of life’s tender conflicts in remarkable execution. This time, it’s the entitlement and ignorance of the upper class exerting their financial wealth and privilege to the consequence of those forced to celebrate it. With such a zeroed in subject matter, the film elicits a few hearty laughs for the way the wealthy treat others like animals or tools for their amusement, but more specifically for me, it was the honesty of Ostlund’s dissertations that, while occasionally extreme in the unpredictable motions of the storytelling, does feel enriched with the kind of believable honesty that faithfully takes you along for the ride, despite the requirement of having to spend 140 minutes with mostly detestable protagonists. The luxury for us the audience comes in the delight of not only seeing them squirm throughout several less than desirable situations, but also in the magnetism of the banter between them developed wonderfully by Ruben, granting us forcefully humbling insights into their psychologies that materialize naturally, instead of the indulgence of heavy-handedness that could’ve oversaturated the originality and effectiveness of its satire. The film is not just over the top, but it is also humorous when it’s being intentionally subtle, with a few measures of superbly constructed technical merits playing into the ambiguity of the mixed signals from such a disconnect between two levels of sociological ranks. The musical score from Mikkel Maltha and Leslie Ming permeate an infectious energy in repetition without feeling annoyingly redundant, the meticulous editing schemes resolve each scene or sequence on a level of ambiguity that makes each situation feel continuously lived-in, and the fine balance of lighting and framing plays into the lunacy of the situation by casting emphasis on the aspects like artistic dishes and fine jewelry that only surmise importance to someone reveled in them. Further adding to these surprisingly endearing developments are the work of the completely talented ensemble, but primarily the emotional heavy lifting of Dean and Dickinson, whose relationship conjures a rich evolution that takes them through many unique and challenging circumstances for their respective characters. Woody Harrelson is also a delightful treat, as usual, but this time in more of a cameo role that does afford him the freedom to steal every scene that he’s a part of, but unfortunately never even close to the kind of dependency we require of him, with a caustic wit in delivery that makes him a refreshing change of pace from the vapidness in demeanor of those he’s forced to share a ship with. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the film is anything but predictable, sifting through three respective acts with on-screen text in titles that in itself would be a spoiler if I named them off for you. Each arc of the story seems to elevate not only the bubbling tension of the isolated established setting, but also conjures several uniquely beneficial character studies during life-threatening situations that turn the tables ironically, while shifting the narrative structurally. It keeps the excitement and anticipation of the film firmly at hand through a nearly two and a half hour run time, all the while maintaining its grasp on the pulse of sociological and character psychologies that easily make it one of the more fearless engagements, I’ve experienced from mainstream cinema in quite some time.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, while the pacing of 140 minutes is never a problem in the confines of many appealing scene predicaments, the balance of its minutes left more to be desired, primarily during the second act, where our primary protagonists are virtually abandoned to explore the other colorful characters aboard the ship. I can commend the film for expanding its scale to explore some of the other dynamics that a film half of its length wouldn’t even bother attempting, but when it comes at the cost of the development between our two leads, it all but echoes their minimal importance to the remainder of the film, a concept that is directly contradicted by a third act that brings them back into frame to test the strength of their relationship once more, without downright earning it from the lack of time spent with such. In addition to this, my only other problem with the film comes with ambiguity of the ending leaving more questions than answers. Because this aspect involves spoilers, I won’t go into too much detail, but I can say that the sudden appearance of a particular convenience leaves certain predicaments with a lack of believability, while others involving supporting arcs are abandoned all together. It resolves the film suddenly in ways that may feel endearing to some, while feeling a bit abrupt to others like me, who get the purpose of the depicted character at the crossroads moment, but one that’s not entirely believable or warranted based on the duration of the experience that all but spelled out a civilization continuously eating each other.

OVERALL
Ruben Ostland’s English speaking debut, “Triangle of Sadness” is a funny, sharply scathing satire on the entitlement of the upper class, and one that unfortunately will feel timeless by its plaguing on a society that will inevitably go unaddressed, even after the film’s hopefully endearing resolution. Though it doesn’t always make the most of its magnitude in minutes, the technical elements and unpredictable direction of the story help it to set sail, throwing high-brow art-house intellectualism overboard for an experience that is loaded with fun and satirically sociological insight.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+