Triangle of Sadness (2022)

[Eric the Fall Guy]

Discuss

[Webslinger]

A savagely funny satire on contemporary wealth and power, Triangle of Sadness hits just about all its marks with precision. Ruben Östlund’s script is razor-sharp and his direction is laser-focused in how it sets up its characters and comedy visually. There’s always so much happening verbally and visually that the film earns its near two-and-a-half-hour running time and justifies its tendency toward long-running shots; these decisions might try some viewers’ patience, but they hit just right for me. As sharp and funny as the film is at a whole, it’s at its messy, chaotic best in the seasickness and storm sequences, which boast some of the funniest gross-out humor in ages and get a ton of mileage from an uproarious performance from Woody Harrelson. As fun as Harrelson is as a drunk Marxist captain, though, he might not even be the best in show, as the entire ensemble clicks and makes the most of the moments they each get in the spotlight. Harris Dickinson and the late Charlbi Dean both exhibit great comedic instincts as models on very different career trajectories; their dynamic makes for plenty of well-pitched cringe humor, and they lean right into their characters’ obliviousness to how their current privilege could handicap them in the long run. Dolly De Leon also ends up sneaking up and snatching the film away from her costars in the last hour, delivering an assured performance with stellar line delivery and a dark edge. There’s also some hilarious work from Henrik Dorsin and Zlatko Buric as self-absorbed, socially awkward cruise guests and Vicki Berlin as the uptight, controlling head of the waitstaff. Though I admittedly don’t know how Triangle of Sadness compares to Östlund’s other acclaimed works, it stands on its own as a hilarious dark comedy that had me eating up the schadenfreude of watching the misfortunes of its characters. 

 

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