Perhaps the most fun… theme? Subgenre? Trope? Whatever, one of the most satisfying things currently permeating pop culture at the moment is the notion (well, fact) that the rich are bloody awful, solipsistic people who deserve to suffer. Think Succession, White Lotus, Barbarian—indeed, Bong Joon-ho’s world-beating Parasite might be ground zero for this current thematic trend.
But the latest entry in this field might be the most savage and merciless yet. Directed by Swedish provocateur and Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund (Force Majeure, The Square),Triangle of Sadness is now available to rent or buy on digital release.
We set our scene on a ridiculously luxurious cruise ship with bickering couple Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a pair of honest-to-god runway models. Her career is on the up, his on the downslope, and now they find themselves guests on a cruise and surrounded by some the worst people capitalism can produce, including Russian oligarch Dimitry (Zlatko Burić) and his wife Vera (Sunnyi Melles), elderly war profiteers Clementine (Amanda Walker) and Winston (Oliver Ford Davies), and tech mogul Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin).
While the Captain (Woody Harrelson) is literally drunk at the wheel, the harried crew, under Head of Staff Paula (Vicki Berlin) struggle to cater to their customers’ every whim. However, the social order is upended when the ship is capsized, and it all goes a bit Lord of the Flies, and it turns out that lowly cleaner Abigail (Dolly de Leon) is the only one with any survival skills. You just know it’s all going to end badly.
Director Ruben Östlund looooves skewering his characters’ foibles, insecurities and hypocrisies, and Triangle of Sadness offers him a rich ensemble to cut into. Will it be as good as his two previous films? That’s a tall order, but let’s face it: watching rich people suffer isn’t just fun, it’s morally correct. So get down to your local fleapit for some class-conscious comedy right now.
