Triangle of Sadness

Ruben Östlund delivers a wry satire about contemporary society and people who are not prepared to lose their social status. But it is not intellectual onanism, it is an extremely entertaining and witty comedy that doesn’t take anything sacred, and apart from the great cast, original ideas and clever dialogues, it offers at least one scene that will go down in film history for its absurdity and escalation. One of the best films of the year. (09/20/2022)

“The only place socialism works is hell – and they don't need it there.” Triangle of Sadness is a satirical ode to the inevitable inequality in society. Balance is utopia. In terms of entertainment value, this dinner tasting from The Square colossally developed into a concert of absurdity on a luxury yacht trumps anything we have seen in the comedy genre in recent years. And it’s not even a comedy genre film. I also enjoyed the hard shocks of the panning camera. When you have something to say, you can repeatedly remind yourself that form is only a means of saying it. Just as all of the whimsical glamour propriety of the passengers on this grand voyage is unnecessary... I’m not giving the film a fifth star because the last, “island” third of the film falls short of the “boat” part in terms of both humor and the effectiveness of capping off the scenes. But the ending is excellent! (07/11/2022)

A satire that refuses to be simple or one-sided. Thanks to that, it is surprisingly accommodating of the audience and anyone with even a minimally open mind can pick up on the winks, nudges, and jabs. And yet it could really have been just a bit more balanced. While for many the captain's dinner was the highlight, I far more greatly enjoyed exploring the individual vanities and snobs, as well as the unpredictable, slow, but daring final act. After all, the dinner is the scene everyone remembers because of its accessibility, but it's that very overcooked quality that harms it. It does show how difficult moments are inevitable for everyone in the world, but there are too many of these instances. I picked up on the metaphor of wallowing in one's own bodily fluids the first time around; I didn't need it repeated so many times. Triangle of Sadness is not easy to recommend because its unnecessary length can be a turnoff for a lot of people, but the question "How would I behave in such a situation?" keeps popping up and every time it sets off a whirlwind of questions, which are not easy to answer even for yourself. (10/15/2022)

A first-class social satire that takes on high society, influencers, models and the like in a subtle and sometimes wholesomely irreverent way. An alternative to Tarantino's masterfully pitched scenes, only without a splatter finale, although there are still various liquids splashing all over the place in the middle of the film. It's a shame that the most effective moments aren't distributed steadily, the second half is considerably less compact, not as entertaining, and basically you are only waiting for the finale. But the first half is so refreshing and so rounded in what it deals with that it is impossible not to admire it. A showcase of the inventive creativity of the makers of this low budget gem. (02/28/2023)

Ruben Östlund delivers an excellent social satire in an endlessly entertaining and sometimes blisteringly funny form that seems to combine three films at once. The centrepiece of this distinctive work is, of course, the quite literal shitstorm in the middle of the plot, which almost seems to have dropped out of a Troma production and then floated out into the international waters of A-list cinema. It won't be a film for everyone, yet it is clearly the most significant highlight of this year's festival in Karlovy Vary and without a doubt one of the greatest film events of the year. When it gets a domestic theatrical release, put it in your calendar! [KVIFF 2022] (07/09/2022)