Triangle of Sadness (2022)

“The last capitalist we hang is the one who sold us the rope.”

Where do I even begin with this bananas movie? Swedish writer-director Ruben Östlund wanted to tell a story about the currency of beauty, and came up with this mad ensemble film about a couple of influencers on a boat with Russian oil barons, arms dealers, and a communist captain. It’s a dark story that is viciously witty. Characters without power do anything to get it, and those who already have power just want more. Everyone in this story is culpable, and everyone upholds the power structure, even when it puts their own lives in jeopardy.

Triangle of Sadness won Östlund his second Palme d’or at the Cannes film festival in 2022, and serves as an end to his pseudo trilogy about modern masculinity set in high class/luxury environments (following Force Majeure and The Square). During TIFF last September, CBC’s Tom Power asked him about the paradox of making a film that mocks the rich, since it is funded by — and screened to — the very people it criticises. “That’s the great thing about capitalism,” he said. “As long as you can sell it, they will support any ideology.”