'Triangle of Sadness' (TIFF review)
Director Ruben Östlund is back with another hilarious take on the rich and famous in 'Triangle of Sadness'.
If there's one director who has perfected the mirror to society it's Ruben Östlund. With 'Force Majeure' and 'The Square' he received much acclaim for his painful but mostly hysterical displays of the parts of society that take themselves way too serious. But with Woody Harrelson joining this party, it lands more on the outrages dark comedy side of the spectrum.
The film starts with a model couple who awkwardly share dinner at a restaurant, but don't share the bill. Quickly the conversation jumps to money and who should be paying. But it would only be the setup for the main course.
As natural influencers the couple gets a free cruise with the rich. I'm not going to explain in detail what happens next. It should just be experienced, preferably in a filled theater. But let's just say shit hits the fan in a literal way at some point.
It must be mentioned Woody Harrelson doesn't join the festivities until late in the film. And he doesn't stay for long either. This is probably a question of budget. But it could partly be the director reflecting our superficial choice of just picking a movie with a big movie star too.
If you've liked Östlund's previous work, this one is not to miss. Sure, it might have the same vibe and writing as his previous movies. But again, without spoiling much of the story, this one elaborates on the original premise by switching the roles of the rich and the poor in the middle of the film.
With 'Triangle of Sadness' Östlund manages to top his previous work but also, in a way, expands on it. During the final of the three acts in the film, he shows us the true nature of people, or at least certain people. And we have to ask ourselves, looking at these questionable characters, would we really be any better in the same situation?
'Triangle of Sadness' had its North American premiere at #TIFF22 and will be released in the US on October 7.
