Triangle of Sadness Review

Triangle of Sadness is a multi-national production and the winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It is one of the most politically charged films of 2022.

Triangle of Sadness follows a group of people who go on a luxury cruise on a superyacht. This includes Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a couple of models who have a turbulent relationship, Dimitry (Zlatko Burić), a Russian oligarch, Therese (Iris Berben) a German woman who can only speak one sentence, and Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin), a lonely tech billionaire. Also on the yacht are the crew which includes Paula (Vicki Berlin), the manager of the service staff, and Thomas (Woody Harrelson), the drunken captain of the vessel. The cruise becomes more chaotic as it progresses.

Triangle of Sadness shares some DNA with Parasite. Parasite was an entertaining film that critiqued the wealth divide and the capitalist system, and it won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It was the first foreign language film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Triangle of Sadness also won the Palme d’Or with an entertaining takedown of the superrich, class, and economic structures.

Triangle of Sadness is tapping into a growing trend of films critiquing and satirising the rich. The Feast, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and The Menu are recent films that have shown the detached reality the rich live in. Considering the political, economic, and cultural climate there will probably be even more films critiquing the superrich.

Triangle of Sadness shows its themes about class and inequality from the outset and did it in an unusual way. It opened with a presenter making a news piece about male models and stating that male models were paid less than their female colleagues. A fashion show opened with a statement about equality right after Carl lost his seat to a VIP.

The first chapter of the film was about Carl and Yaya. There was a power imbalance in their relationship because Yaya was financially better off but Carl was expected to pay because of traditional gender roles. Carl started as a sympathetic character because of this but he quickly revealed that he was jealous, insecure, and angry. It was a toxic relationship, and they only seem to be together because they were good-looking.

Carl and Yaya acted as the audience surrogates when the film moves to the yacht. They were on the yacht because Yaya was an influencer, and she could promote the cruise. They were new to both the world of superrich and life on a boat.

Triangle of Sadness does lay it on thick with the satire when the story moved to the yacht. This chapter of the film opened with a helicopter delivering a package of Nutella when the yacht was out at sea. It shows how much wealth these people have that they were able to have some jars delivered in the most expensive way possible. Dimitry said he made his money selling ‘shit,’ whilst a seemingly nice older couple made their money through a morally dubious industry.

On the ship, there was a hierarchy among the staff. The front-of-house staff was young, good-looking people who interacted with the guests and were aiming to get a big tip. On the lower desks were the cleaners and the engine room operators. These were people who had been hidden away and only came out to clean up and do the dirty jobs.

All of this satire and commentary climaxed with the Captain’s Dinner. It was an escalation of chaos as the passengers tried to dine during some stormy conditions. It devolved into gross-out humour whilst Dmitry and the yacht’s captain entered into a drunken political debate about the pros and cons of Marxism. It felt like the cinematic equivalent of punk rock.

The third chapter saw Triangle of Sadness turn into Swept Away, with a little bit of the American Dad episode “The Vacation Goo.” This chapter saw a role reversal that would make most audiences cheer for the revolution.

Whilst Triangle of Sadness was clear with its political leanings, writer/director Ruben Östlund ensured there was a broad appeal. It was a genuinely funny film with hilarious sequences, like the disastrous Captain’s Dinner. The characters were shown to have a level of humanity since the elite were shown to be friendly and engaging, and weren’t moustached twirling villains. Dmitry and Captain Thomas’ interactions were funny and whilst they had different political viewpoints they enjoyed each other’s drunken company. I wish modern-day political discourse was more like their interactions.

Östlund clearly had the same brief as Bong Jong-ho, it was better to make an entertaining film so everyone can enjoy it, even if they didn’t agree with the message. They were more likely to win people over to their cause through entertainment than just lecturing them.

Triangle of Sadness was a long film with a runtime of two hours and twenty minutes. This led to the biggest drawback of the film because it was a narratively loose film. The story was a secondary concern to the themes and the characters. Luckily the themes, characters, acting, and directing were so strong that it made up for this one shortfall.

Triangle of Sadness was an entertaining flick that was filled with tremendous comedy and blunt social commentary.