Review: 'Triangle of Sadness' satirizes the 0.01 percent, with queasy glee
With “Triangle of Sadness,” Östlund is returning to form, with all the strengths and flaws his now-distinctive narrative style entails. There are few filmmakers working today who are as eager to tackle life as we know it — without benefit of superheroes, pseudo-medieval mythologies or lockstep genre conventions — and give it a swift satirical kick where it hurts.
In “Triangle of Sadness,” that world is the echelon of the 1 percent — or, more accurately, the 0.01 percent. After a section introducing Yaya and Carl — two gorgeous fashion models — Östlund sends them on a cruise on a luxury yacht, where Yaya enlists Carl in her pursuit of the perfect selfie, the better to further her career as a social media influencer.
The balancing act comes undone with the onset of several reversals, not least of which involves the ship’s captain, who for much of “Triangle of Sadness” remains locked in his cabin listening to “The Internationale.” Once he emerges, watch out: The captain is played by Woody Harrelson, who delivers a career-defining performance as a man on an alcoholic and ideological bender that only grows more extreme over the course of a fateful seafood dinner.
Fans of “The Square” won’t be surprised when that white-glove feast turns into a Buñuelian spectacle of excess and grotesquerie. Östlund spares his characters nothing as he punishes their heedlessness with scene upon scene of graphic seasickness, a sequence that goes on seemingly forever, to increasingly bilious effect.
Buñuel isn’t the only inspiration here. Fans of Lina Wertmüller’s “Swept Away” will recognize thematic echoes, given a sharp twist within Östlund’s Darwinian world of transient power and transactional loyalties. As destination noirs go, “Triangle of Sadness” is right up there with “The White Lotus” in its skewering of inequality and obliviousness.
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