An all-expenses paid cruise on a luxury yacht could not have come at a better time for influencer Yaya (Charlbi Dean) and male model Carl (Harris Dickinson) whose relationship is on the rocks after another heated exchange about money. Once aboard, they are stuck in close quarters with a host of oddballs with more money than they could ever spend in ten lifetimes, but when the yacht runs afoul and the passengers wash up, stranded, on a deserted island, Abigail (Dolly De Leon), the head of housekeeping on the yacht, finds herself in a lucrative bartering position as the only person with the skills to survive in the wilderness. 

Writer/Director Ruben Östlund became one of the few two-time Palme d’Or winners with his latest social commentary, Triangle of Sadness, which was picked up by Neon, solidifying their catalog with their third Palme d’Or acquisition in a row. From the streets of Gothenburg in Play (2011), to the French Alps in Force Majeure (2014), to a prestigious Stockholm art museum in The Square (2017), Östlund takes his audience on a wild ride of the rich and famous where consequences do not matter, and their every whim will be catered to. Split across three chapters in the 147-minute runtime, the film does tend to chase its tail as the chapters trudge on, but Östlund injects enough humor and punch into the dialogue that while the thesis is a little more blunt than usual for the satirist, the film still holds up as an excellent comedy. 

The film cold opens with Carl in the green room waiting to audition for an upper-class menswear line, and Östlund wastes no time punching down on the exploitation that comes from luxury capitalism and drawing a correlation between the happier the model looks in the clothes, the cheaper the brand. The more expensive brands are looking down on the consumer, annoyed at their very existence. After the title sequence, the film finds Carl and Yaya at dinner and the delivery of the check causes a few rifts since it is revealed that Yaya, who makes more money than Carl, had agreed to pay for the meal but is now pretending that that arrangement was misconstrued by her boyfriend. She claims this was a test to make sure that if she was unable to provide for them that he would still take care of her. This sets the stage for some middle-act irony as once on the ship, it is Carl who is often taking the pictures, doing the editing, and then uploading for Yaya; the success of her feed is already being provided for her but she does not realize it in her self-centeredness. But for now, the film is focused on gender norms as it relates to wealth in a relationship, and it is – as most conversations about finances are, especially when there is such an uneven power dynamic – an awkward sequence to watch. Like most arguments in relationships that are already on their way to disaster, it does not end quickly or quietly and Östlund overplays his hand a little here, but that will become a running theme throughout the narrative as if he is afraid that audiences will not pick up on his not-so-subtle arguments. 

Once aboard the yacht, Östlund finds his groove for the film and it evolves into a delightful, closed-quarters farce. Admittedly, it is not quite clear where this narrative is headed, but it is an engaging ride that audiences will be all too happy to be brought along for. The cast list expands, introducing us to Dimitry (Zlatko Buric) a Russian oligarch on vacation with his wife, Vera (Sunnyi Melles), Winston (Oliver Ford Davies) and Clementine (Amanda Walker), an elderly couple who made their fortune in military weapon contracts, and Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin), a socially inept tech developer to name just a few. They want for nothing on this ship and the head of the steward department, Paula (Vicki Berlin), instructs her team to do everything and anything the guests request all in search of a hefty tip when it is time to disembark. To prepare to soothe the egos of the massively wealthy, they clap, stomp, and cheer for money, while on the deck below Abagail and her team take a few moments to breathe and relax after turning the yacht over for this new cruise so that it can look immaculate for the new passengers. With this sequence, Östlund makes it very clear that this is going to be a parable of the haves and the have-nots but gone haywire in his signature way. 

As the cruise continues, Vera insists that all the staff take a break from their duties and come swimming; a quick pass through the water slide that still needs to be set up by the staff. Confused, and worried that this request will set the entire staff behind schedule for the captain’s dinner that evening, Paula is unrelenting as she rounds up the staff for their brief recess to meet this request, and this is the major turning point for the film, not only for the characters but for Östlund, too, who ratchets up the absurdity with a host of slapstick setups to carry that later half of the second chapter. Despite the protesting of the head chef (Stefan Gödicke), the dinner has spoiled with no one in the kitchen, and when it is served to the guests, the food poisoning takes quick effect. Narrating this gratuitous display of gastrointestinal despair are Dimitry and the perpetually sloshed Captain (Woody Harrelson) as they debate the pros and cons of capitalism and communism. It is a lively debate but coupled with all of the insanity, it is a little hard to keep the finer points of discussion straight. 

Following the natural progression of most farces, the resulting disaster when the pot boils over finds many of these characters stranded on a desert island with only Abigail able to fend for the group. The change of scenery is certainly nice, but as with the middle chapter, this final arc goes on far too long and Östlund is beating his thesis to death. It is a shame though because the humor is top-notch, very reminiscent of his Force Majeure that can be enjoyed as a satire or a straight comedy, but here the heavy-handedness of his message here is tiring. For all the time spent examining these concepts, however, the film does find subtlety in how it wraps up the plot answering that central question way back at the dinner table: Would Carl step up and provide if Yaya was unable to do so. It also ends the film with an ambiguous shot and Östlund is totally uninterested in decoding it one way or another and it is that cheekiness that keeps Triangle of Sadness at the front of mind after the credits roll. The best part of the film is not the social commentary, but it is an engaging and highly enjoyable story as audiences are left to discuss if that final shot of Carl running through the forest was in search of Yaya, or have the men devolved into savagery and Carl is seeking his own self-preservation. 

The film is a bold project for the Swedish director to make his English-language debut, and with a zany cast that is all clearly enjoying their roles, flaws and all, Triangle of Sadness is one of the best movies of the year. It is frustrating because Östlund is not operating with that same level of nuance that his other films have had, but while the individual parts do not quite add up to a greater sum, each of those singular elements is the work of a master of his craft.   It is an exciting ride full of laughs, and while it certainly does not lack for subtlety, there is no denying there is also no lack of attention to detail though that is not to be mistaken for meticulousness. Even with only three locations, the film is surprisingly sprawling, but it still works like a finely tuned machine in terms of how the plot unravels and the way the jokes are set up and paid off. The biggest failure of the film is also the most unfair of criticism because seen against Östlund’s other works, it can feel a touch lazy in its handling of message from someone who has proven himself to be a much more surgical commentator, but ultimately, when seen apart from the rest of the director’s filmography and appreciated on its own merits, there are few, if any, funnier films hitting theatres this year and it makes for a riotous return to the cinema!