Triangle of Sadness

Triangle of Sadness, directed by Ruben Östlund, is a scathing commentary on societal class, with the veneer of luxury and Instagram-perfect lives stripped away, revealing the darkest of human nature. The film follows the story of Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlize Theron), a beautiful celebrity model couple, who find themselves invited on a luxury cruise, catering to the needs of the ultrarich and the world-renowned fashion designer, Carl's idol, Ola Nyström (Woody Harrelson). The cruise, amidst the captain's bizarre antics, promises to provide a decadent and opulent experience, complete with lavish parties and gourmet dining. At first, Carl and Yaya lap up the luxuries, living like royalty, with Carl even getting a chance to rub shoulders with his icon, Ola. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Captain Mahogany's (Stefan Langer) behavior is crossing the fine line between flamboyance and unadulterated madness, often slipping into an inebriated haze that has the rest of the passengers uneasy. On the second night of the passenger's trip, the high-end cruise guests, eager to join in the revelry on deck, have little idea of what lurks beneath the surface. Captain Mahogany's command has lost its footing due to excessive inebriation, resulting in their encountering rather catastrophic weather conditions that culminate in the most disastrous of incidents: all those on the voyage are dislodged into the ocean in an unpredictable and gruesome sequence of events. Out of a seeming impossible circumstance and to the horror of Yaya and Carl, the rest of the passengers, they now find themselves stranded on a deserted island. The former elite soon discovers that their status and privileged station in life have vanished along with their previous modes of prosperity and that they now compete for very raw and very basic necessities of life. To find food, build a shelter, and stay safe is, at this moment for them, their priority, with an entirely alternate experience born from such survival obligations. Yaya and Carl are confronted by the harsh realities of survival and conflict. As time goes on and nature proves unforgiving, their own initial focus on where they stand shifts because a more unrelenting rivalry takes hold among the group for essentially basic needs such as water, space, and more basic necessities. Prior to becoming trapped and the loss of everything they ever thought was their own, Yaya was a person of very small social standing yet with a stature above her past at home. Carl on the other hand appears an outcast after being dropped from the high standards he placed on his own fashion line by his management despite appearing successful by other measures. With a keen wit and dry humor, Östlund not only offers a hilarious and satirical critique of today's societal obsession with fame, power, and status but also offers us an unflinching look into the human animal in base conditions, revealing the true nature that lies just beneath the veneer of civilized society. By exploiting the unspoken internal struggles and darker primal desires of this modern-day cruise passengers trapped on a deserted island, Triangle of Sadness produces an uncanny sense of tension that resonates on multiple levels of intrigue and comedy.