Ruben Östlund knows how to make an impression. The director of such precision satires as Force Majeure and The Square, Östlund knows how to get under people’s skin and stay there, laying eggs of discomfort that hatch, grow, and die in the viewer’s body, staying with them long after the credits roll. Usually, he does it with a whole movie. For the director’s latest, the Palm d’Or-winning Triangle Of Sadness, he only needs a poop, puke, and pee-filled trailer to get his point across.
Triangle Of Sadness follows a luxury yacht and its beautiful, wealthy passengers. Ostensibly a satire about the world of modeling and fashion, Sadness gets the characters aboard the ship and dumps, well, dump on them, literally. After their ridiculous requests are met with a smile and a “yes” from the staff, all hell and all bowels break loose. Those with seasickness might want to stay home because the swaying camera is going to make that human waste any more palatable.
Here’s the synopsis:
In Ruben Östlund’s wickedly funny Palme d’Or winner, social hierarchy is turned upside down, revealingthe tawdry relationship between power and beauty. Celebrity model couple, Carl (Harris Dickinson) andYaya (Charlbi Dean), are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain(Woody Harrelson). What first appeared Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival.
Triangle Of Sadness comes from the typically poop-free world of fashion to describe the wrinkle between one’s eyebrows, according to Östung. “It suggests you’ve had a lot of struggles in your life,” the directors said. “I thought it said something about our era’s obsession with looks and that inner wellbeing is, in some respects, secondary.”
Triangle Of Sadness holds its stomach, covers its mouth, and stumbles into theaters on October 7.