Triangle of Sadness popped up on a watchlist a little while ago, but I ignored it, as the story was:
“A fashion model celebrity couple join an eventful cruise for the super-rich.”
I’m sure the synopsis I read had the word ‘influencer’ in it, so I completely ignored it. However, the movie then got an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and a couple of people I follow on Twitter said it was good, so I thought I would give it a try.
Triangle of Sadness has to be one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while, so here is my review.
The movie stars Thobias Thorwid, Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Jiannis Moustos, Vivki Berlin, Dolly De Leon, and Woody Harrelson. The only name that was familiar with me was Harrelson and, most of the time, the guy picks a good script.
Ruben Östlund serves as the writer and director of Triangle of Sadness. Again, a new name to me, but I will be going back over his previous movies and giving them a try.
There are three acts to the movie, all titled parts 1, 2, and 3. The first part is about Carl and Yaya, two models who have a relationship, but Carl is maybe a little jealous of Yaya, since she earns more than him.
The first act does a great job of setting up these two characters and introducing them. They basically end up, in act two, on a cruise for extremely rich people. They are there as influencers, getting a free trip and posting about it on their social media.
We then meet all the super-rich people who have paid for the cruise. This includes a family where the dad made money in crap, as in one of Russia’s (I think it was Russia) biggest dealers in waste. There is also a very quaint old British couple that made their money in weapons.
The cast, the script, and the characters are brilliantly done and you are drawn into each character’s life and story. Most of them really made me laugh, but in a dark way. This is a dark comedy.
*Mild Spoilers Ahead*
The third act involves the boat being attacked by pirates, and some of the guests and crew end up on an island. Suddenly things are upside-down. The cleaning lady is the only one who can catch food, make a fire, and cook it. This makes her the ‘captain’ of the island.
Things are now very different on the island, the rich people have no skills, no way of spending their money, and are utterly useless. Everyone is pretty much reliant on the cleaning lady.
The power though goes to her head, but that’s all I will say about the story and leave it for you to find out.
*End Of Spoilers*
Triangle of Sadness works on so many levels. The direction and photography are some of the best I’ve seen in a while, with lovely long shots and very well-acted scenes.
It’s the script that is the stand-out of the whole thing though. The characters are fascinating, from the rich people wanting to have the sails on a motor boat cleaned to the Captain, played by Harrelson, not eating fine dining and just having a burger and chips at the captains’ table.
As I usually say, I’m only scratching the surface of the story. There are some wonderful moments, but funny and disgusting at the same time. I keep thinking about each of the characters and everything they go through.
The movie, in a nutshell, is about how much of a difference there is in social classes today and how utterly useless some people are. Everyone learns a lesson, from losing that position of power to gaining it and not knowing what to do with it.
It also asks what someone’s worth is. Again, not to spoil things but it seems some people would sell their souls for a bag of Pretzel sticks.
I cannot really think of anything I can compare Triangle of Sadness too. It’s a great piece of work and I can see why the Oscar nod is there. I know I moan about movies being over 90 minutes, but this was 2 hours and 27 minutes and I loved every frame of it.
Triangle of Sadness is now streaming on Prime.
On a sad note, looking up some details about the movie turns out the main actress, Charlbi Dean, died soon after the movie came out due to a lung infection. She was only 32.
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