Triangle of Sadness

 

Triangle of Sadness
Starring Charlbi Dean, Harris Dickinson, Woody Harrelson, Dolly de Leon
Directed by Ruben Ostlund

The triangle of sadness refers to the part of the face between the eyebrows where a person's stress and worry is openly apparent, but famed Swedish director Ruben Ostlund is known for crafting more satirical, out-of-the-norm films so the film that this idea is titled after goes far deeper than the physical, even though the main purpose of "Triangle of Sadness" is to skewer the wealthy elite who have lost all touch with practical reality. The metaphor is still there, as us on the bottom rungs of elite society wonder what does the wealthy have to worry about, and as it turns out there's a lot of things that they worry about - such as the fact that most of their jobs are either handed down to them through generations or they work in such vain fields that at any moment they can be replaced by the next "hot young thing." Either way, "Triangle of Sadness" offers no pity for such pithy people, serving as the ultimate underdog tale filled with sophisticated (and not-so-sophisticated) humor and satire.

Much like the concept of a triangle, the film is split into three acts. The first act introduces us to literal model couple Yaya (Charlbi Dean) and Carl (Harris Dickinson). Both work as models, but Yaya's profession garners her more views and more money, throwing the social norm of relationships on its head as she pays for dinner and their hotel, which Carl is agreeable to because she said she'd do it. Still, Carl wants more to their relationship than the transactional nature Yaya sees it as - they help each other achieve their goals, and love really isn't a factor in her mind as much as it is in his.

The second act takes place on the yacht, where Yaya and Carl were invited free of charge so she can take pictures for her Instagram account. It's here we meet the other culturally elite as well as witness the obvious class struggle taking place in the environment. While the wealthy suntan on the deck, those who work on the yacht (the middle class) huddle in the middle of the ship for a pep talk by crew leader Paula (Vicki Berlin), who rouses the troops with the possibility of making money from tips if they serve the patrons well. Meanwhile, below deck, the deckhands (the lower class) sit in bare-walled rooms and don't really talk or mingle with anyone, instead serving as the toilet cleaners and floor sweepers after the patrons have gone to bed. At the captain's table dinner, the Captain (Woody Harrelson) witnesses the patrons suffering from severe bouts of seasickness after the ship is rocked by violent waves. While the attendees get sick, they're rocked by a pirate attack as the ship sinks.

The third act focuses on a small group of survivors (including Yaya, Carl, and Paula) as they wash up ashore an uninhabited island. One of the other survivors is lower class toilet cleaner Abigail (Dolly de Leon) who soon becomes top dog when they discover that she's the only one who can catch fish, clean it, and cook it. Taking the role of the new captain, Abigail commands with an iron fist and rations food, keeping Carl around as her personal sex toy and giving him more food to give to Yaya. While many of them wonder if they'll ever get off the island, Abigail feels like she's found a new lease on life, and could go to great lengths to make sure no one leaves her new utopia.

Much like the title and the literal chapter splits itself, there's three underlying themes in "Triangle of Sadness" that are expressed through the different chapters. The first chapter looks at the modern relationship ideal as well as the skewered gender roles. Generally the man in the relationship is the breadwinner, while the woman serves as his helpmate, but the roles seem reversed in the relationship between Yaya and Carl. Yaya is the more successful of the two, but Carl isn't concerned with the fact that she uses her income to pay for their fancy dinner and even fancier hotel room. He harbors real feelings for her, but she sees their relationship as a transaction: she does things for him, he does things for her, and it helps them both in their financial endeavors. Harris Dickinson gives his best performance here, balancing this connection while also coming off as a socially elite snob in moments while also showcasing real emotional depth in others. Charlbi Dean (who sadly passed away in August) also gave her best performance as the multi-layered Yaya. On one hand she's a devout feminist who believes that a woman can do anything a man can do, but as the film progresses she realizes that she might be more dependent than she once thought.

The second theme takes place on the yacht and is the most blatantly obvious: the theme of social class and privilege. The yacht itself separates people accordingly: the wealthy on the top enjoying the sun, the middle class in the middle getting ready to serve, and the poorest in the bottom hull where there's no windows and no sunlight, and the walls are painted a stale white. Their differences are highlighted with the introduction of the other wealthy attendees, including Russian fertilizer seller Dimitry (Zlatko Buric), is there with his wife and young mistress even though both sit next to each other and don't mind one another's presence. Then there's a nice elderly British couple who gets their money from arms deals, and other wealthy elite who seem detached from reality. The servers mingle amongst them and tend to their every need, and are dressed in communal outfits that are pristine and polished, as they always have a smile and a "yes sir/yes ma'am" attitude. Not even they interact with the lower workers (most of whom are non-white) who only come out when toilets need cleaned or floors need mopped. Yet when the captain's dinner takes place, the real "you-know-what" hits the fan as the Captain sits by with an almost joyful glee. Woody Harrelson has the time of his life in this very short role, and it's entirely memorable not because of how he witnesses the events happening, but also an enjoyable tete-a-tete with Buric's Dimitry as the two's differing ideologies (the Captain is a Marxist while Dimitry is a Capitalist) come to blows in a drunken night of good-natured jarbs - before the more-literal "you know what" hits the fan as the ship is sunk by roaming pirates.

The final theme takes place on the island as the survivors try to find a way to survive, and it centers on how power can corrupt even those who never had power in the first place. While the majority of the survivors are the elites, one of them - Abigail - is the only lower class survivor. At first they all maintain their social classes, but when it's discovered that only Abigail can catch, clean, and cook fish (their only food source), she suddenly becomes the most popular person on the island. Naming herself the new captain, she rations the food (keeping more for herself) and uses Carl as a transactional sex toy to get more food for carnal pleasures, and in a full circle moment Carl notices the transactional nature of the relationship he had with Yaya. The power goes to Abigail's head, and she sets out to make sure they don't get off the island, because she knows if they do, then she'll be right back on the bottom rung of society. While her intentions aren't wholly pure, Abigail in a sense deserves this newfound life, and Dolly de Leon steals the show, already earning a Golden Globe nomination and hopefully an Oscar will be in her future for her committed performance.

"Triangle of Sadness" is Ruben Ostlund's first English-speaking film, and like some of his other great work like "Force Majeure" and "The Square," "Triangle" is a black comedy satire about the lopsided nature of the class structure that we've been following for centuries. Unlike his other work, however, "Triangle" is more in-your-face about it, literally forcing the wealthy to stool in their own feces as a way of bringing a sense of satisfaction to those beneath them. It's nonetheless effective, but also a divisive film that won the coveted Palm d'Or (like "The Square" did in 2017) and with good reason - for most, it's a laugh-out-loud dramedy that directly points a finger at the social elite, while for others it's a dragged-out film that putters out near the end - it's all about your preference.

The Score: A+