Like the French New Wave before it, this entirely lacks subtlety. Artfully made, but without anything to say. I found it disorganized and inconsistent: in Östlund’s eyes, rich people are terrible, but the poor are worse when they have an opportunity to seize power. Capitalism is the problem; perhaps removing ourselves from society would — ah, never mind.
Most North Americans are so well off as to be one of the 1% of wealthiest people in the world, which perhaps makes us uncomfortable. We would prefer, of course, to discuss the 1% of that 1%, the smaller sliver of a pie, in an effort to make our wealth feel more justified. I understand.
But I am entirely uninterested in eating the rich, and much more interested in solving the problem. How do we change the system?
I don’t think Triangle of Sadness is a particularly good exploration of either individual or systemic fault in capitalism. I don’t think there’s any subtlety to it, and I think it falls apart the minute you start pulling threads.
This is on top of the pacing issues surrounding the film. It’s 30 minutes too long, Part 1 is unnecessary, the title cards aren’t needed, and the structure that would give this the tension it craves simply isn’t present.