I was lowkey scared to watch this movie given the nausea-inducing things I had heard about it, and while it certainly didn’t disappoint on that front, it offered so much more.
SYNOPSIS: A fashion model celebrity couple join an eventful cruise for the super-rich.
The different synopses of this film fascinate me, as they either present so little of what the movie is about, or catastrophically - in some cases - far too much. The above synopsis doesn’t even scratch the surface of what this movie is about. I went into it with some prior knowledge about certain events in the film, and I think in a way I benefitted from that, because somehow, no matter what happened or how prepared I was for it, I was still consistently surprised.
Out of all the film’s I have seen this year, there has not been one like Triangle of Sadness that so effectively translates its ideas to the viewer in such outlandish ways. The film’s humor blends so well with the overall tone of the film, and tows the line of being absurd; until it doesn’t. The movie will go from subtle to unsubtle at the blink of an eye, and while it can be overwhelming at times, I found myself consistently grinning and smiling. The movie changes and evolves in its structure so much as it goes on, and with each change I felt something fresh and new was introduced to keep me consistently engaged given the lengthy runtime of the film, which didn’t bother me in the slightest.
Östlund places the camera in each scene so perfectly and so effectively, shots manage to be so captivating and beautiful without ever becoming overbearing and stylized. The stern methodology of cinematography here had me in constant awe of what I was watching, yet never overtook the substance of the story. This is a perfectly captured, and beautifully lit film in every sense of the word. There’s one visual sequence involving a painting, right before the uphill climb to the climax of the second act, that was so patient and deliberate in its delivery that I was filled with joy, and simultaneously, a sense of dread of what was to come.
Speaking of the climax (and speaking of dread) NOTHING I have seen in recent memory has evoked such a feeling of dread in me than the second act of this movie. No spoilers of course, but the evil grin Ruben Östlund must have had behind the scenes filming this part of the movie must’ve been a mile wide. It’s devilish, relentless, and truthfully hard to watch, all the while being hilarious somehow. I think it loses touch with its execution near the end of this elongated scene in a moment between Woody Harrelson and Zlatko Burić that felt a little too overbearing, but nonetheless funny. I can count on one hand the amount of times I haven’t been able to watch and covered my eyes during a movie, and this would make that list.
A common complaint I’ve heard about this film is it severely drags in its third act, which I certainly can see the validity behind that complaint, but I was consistently engaged despite the pace slowing down ever-so-slightly. To me, this is where the film shines the brightest. We see the characters we’ve come to know in the most peculiar of situations, and how they adapt to that was enthralling to me. It’s the cornerstone of what the entire film is about, and draws everything to a close in such a fascinating way. The last 2 minutes of this film are the most pulse-pounding I’ve seen in quite sometime, and perfectly bookend the crazy odyssey that you’ve now bore witness to.
At the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020 on the red carpet, when celebrities were asked their favorite movie of the year, they all resoundingly said “PARASITE!!” and proceeded to ooze over just how much they loved it. I would imagine Triangle of Sadness will get the same treatment, but something about having a second act full of vomit and feces might turn those same shiny celebrities off of a movie like this, and all for the better.
I am so glad I caught this in theatres, because sitting there in that theater, there was no escape from the experience I was about to indulge in. It was riotous, funny, and constantly surprising in an unforgettable way. Östlund’s style shines so bright here, and I can only hope he’ll continue to make outrageous satires such as this one. This odyssian-tale of class left me seasick with infatuation, and quite literally seasick as well. Make sure you eat before the movie, you won’t want to afterwards (trust me).
8/10
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