Swedish writer-director Ruben Östlund (The Square, Force Majeure)—in his English-language debut—delivers a wicked Palme d’Or-winning satire about social hierarchy inverted. Guests on a luxury cruise for the über-rich find their wealth, power, and prestige means little after they’re marooned on an island, fighting for survival, where Abigail (Dolly De Leon), a yacht housekeeper with fishing skills, suddenly has more social cachet. (147 min.)
Glen This ink-black comedy skewers the ultra-rich, depicting their tenuous grasp on the false reality that their wealth creates while also lampooning our celebrity- and beauty-obsessed culture, where vapid know-nothings are stars of social media. We’re first introduced to Carl (Harris Dickinson), a male model romantically involved with more-successful female model and Instagram influencer Yaya (Charlbi Dean). They bicker about money and gender roles, but she lands them a free cruise on a posh yacht helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson) and filled with tone-deaf one-percenters like elderly couple Winston (Oliver Ford Davies) and Clementine (Amanda Walker), British arms dealers who casually brag that hand grenades are their best seller; gregarious Russian oligarch Dimitry (Zlatko Buric), who boasts about getting rich “selling shit”—aka fertilizer; and other oblivious and demanding guests who make outrageous requests, such as having the yacht’s sails cleaned even though this is a motorized yacht without sails. When they hit rough seas and seasickness sets in, it’s pure schadenfreude watching them fall ill.
Anna As someone who has watched every iteration of the Below Deck reality franchise, I thought I had seen the worst of the worst behavior by über-rich jerks on a yacht, but nothing could prepare me for the sheer terribleness that has been imagined by Östlund. There’s a great scene where Vera (Sunnyi Melles) holds stewardess Alicia (Alicia Erikkson) hostage by the hot tub and then insists the young woman climb in the tub in her uniform before announcing that all the crew must go for a swim off the waterslide. These rich people are straight-up exhausting! Harrelson is great as the perpetually drunk sea captain who’s finally forced from his quarters to attend the ill-fated captain’s dinner. That dinner scene and the minutes that follow are not for the squeamish—let’s just say there’s no lack of bodily fluids. The film is divided into parts, and by the time we land on the island, it’s clear that while money can buy a lot, it can’t build a fire, and it can’t hunt. Suddenly the Richie-Riches are powerless, and Abigail couldn’t be happier to take over as captain. It builds an interesting commentary about the haves and have-nots and how quickly a change in circumstance can flip everything on its head.
Glen Östlund loves to explore the various sides of human nature. Force Majeure (2014), or its American version Downhill (2020), is about a couple on a skiing vacation with their children who must reexamine their relationship after an avalanche strikes and the husband is more interested in saving himself than his family. How we react in desperate situations differs, and those moments are where true character emerges. We all like to think we’d behave nobly when the time comes, but until it happens, who knows? If nothing else, Triangle of Sadness humanizes its characters. It’s the antithesis of romanticism.
Anna These people just can’t seem to get away from their greed, even in a place where wealth holds no power, like a deserted island. Paula (Vicki Berlin) was a higher rank than Abigail on the ship, but when she tries to pull rank in order to get Abigail to share food, she’s met with a big fat “no way” and soon tries to establish herself as Abigail’s right hand. It’s just a really interesting look at what power does to people. This film has a long run time, but stick with it—the ending definitely took me by surprise.
Glen I loved that the ending lacked a clear resolution. It allows us viewers to decide for ourselves how we hope it all turns out. It’s certainly poignant and open to interpretation. Δ
Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Glen compiles listings. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 6, 2022.
