Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Ruben Östlund arrived at Triangle of Sadness off the back of two consecutive Palme d'Or wins, Force Majeure (2014) and The Square (2017), making him one of the very few directors to pull that off. This one secured him a third Palme d'Or at Cannes 2022, a remarkable run by any measure. Produced across an unusually large consortium of European co-financiers (with BBC Film among the more surprising names on the sheet), the film was shot partly on location aboard actual superyachts and on a remote Croatian island, giving its class-war satire a genuinely sun-blasted, tactile quality. Charlbi Dean, who plays one half of the central model couple alongside Harris Dickinson, died suddenly in August 2022 at thirty-two, shortly before the film's wide release, lending its promotional period an unavoidable shadow.

A-Z World Movie Tour Switzerland (apparently?) Triangle of Sadness is a sharp, filthy, and darkly hilarious satire that rips into the absurdities of wealth, power, and social hierarchy with gleeful brutality. Directed by Ruben Östlund, it follows a group of ultra-rich influencers, oligarchs, and yuppies on a luxury cruise that... goes wrong. The film is packed with biting commentary on class, gender roles, and the fragility of status, asking who really holds power when the system collapses. And the answer is... often, the one cleaning the toilets. The first half skewers the fashion and influencer world with deadpan precision, and also tries to completely overtly tackle gender norms, before the film takes a wild turn into survival territory. Phase 2 shows decadence, opulence and excess, and phase 3 is about labour and power dynamics. Dolly de Leon steals the show as the quiet cleaner, and Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean (in her final film role) deliver strong, grounded performances amid the chaos. Yes, the infamous puking scene is a lot, prolonged, grotesque, almost cartoonish in its excess. But it’s also the point: this is a film about indulgence, decay, and the rot beneath luxury. It’s messy, loud, and deliberately uncomfortable. But it’s also smart, fearless, and darkly funny. Bold, provocative, and impossible to ignore. A savage takedown of privilege, even if it occasionally wallows in the mess it’s criticising.

Rating: ★★½  | Year: 2022  | Watched: 2025-09-10

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