Better Late Than Never on "Triangle of Sadness"
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I saw "Triangle of Sadness" yesterday and I have some thoughts.
I remember hearing about this movie during the pandemic. When things opened up a little more I would read things about this movie that were glowing. I believe it won the Palme D'Or the year it went to Cannes. I also know that it came from Neon Studios, and they have a track record that is on similar ground as A24. It has been on Netflix for a bit, I have come across it a bunch and yesterday I finally decided to hit play.
This was an interesting watch. First of all, the movie clocks in at right around two and a half hours. There's some stuff that could have been cut in my opinion. Some scenes seemed to go on a bit too long for my liking. But that is a personal preference thing for me. I read some stuff after watching the movie, and I guess that is a certain trademark of the director. To each their own, but this could have easily been a two hour movie. Other than that gripe, this was a pretty good movie.
The movie started off interesting with a modeling casting call. There's a bunch of hunky dudes sitting in a room being interviewed by a documentarian. He's asking funny questions and the guys are giving funny answers. This is one scene that felt a bit long, but I believe the director wanted the viewer to be uncomfortable watching them wait. And when they finally got called into the room it was quick and noncommittal. But this is where we are introduced to Carl, played by Harris Dickinson. He's integral to the whole movie. The very next scene we meet Carl's much more successful partner, YaYa, played by Charlbi Dean Kriek, who tragically passed away shortly after this movie's release. These two are always at each other's throats over money and fame. They fight and makeup, and this is when we land on the yacht. This is where the movie goes nuts. Everything you could imagine going wrong does.
The yacht is for the uber wealthy. YaYa and Carl are invited on due to YaYa's social media fame. We meet all kinds of odd birds on this yacht. Zlakto Buric plays Dimitri. He is a Russian fertilizer tycoon who loves to tie one on and has a wife and girlfriend with him. Woody Harrellson plays a drunken buffoon of a captain. Vicki Berlin plays the manager of the staff and she is a no nonsense go getter to a fault. We also have Therese, a mute woman due to a stroke, Winston and Camilla, a rich couple who made their money manufacturing weapons, Jarmo, a Swedish internet tycoon, and Abigail, head of the janitorial services on the yacht. There's plenty of other people, but these are the main people we see most on screen. The yacht is where all the shit goes down on this movie. Crazy and gross stuff happens in abundance. There's a scene, after one of the rich attendees of the yacht forces the entire staff to go swimming, and the head chef says that if his staff goes swimming, the food is going to go bad. We later see that come into full effect at the captain's dinner. There also happens to be a big storm, so the combination of spoiled food and seas sickness makes for one of the grossest, and longest, scenes I've ever seen in a movie. The amount of bodily fluids we are exposed to as the viewer seems to be overkill. But it is also highly effective. After a night of gross stuff, and Woody Harrellson and Dimitri going on a bender, some pirates emerge and the movie takes another turn. We end up with the survivors of the attack on an island. Things get bleak here. This is where the comedic elements seem to die down and the movie gets a little sinister. But, the island may not be as remote as we first think. Power dynamics shift, love triangles start, paranoia sets in and the movie comes to a rather upsetting conclusion.
My son asked me what I thought of the movie after watching it yesterday and I told him it was a fascinating watch, but I don't believe I'll ever revisit the movie. And that's not a diss on this movie. There are plenty of movies I have liked that I have only ever seen once. "Triangle of Sadness" has some solid elements, but it feels a bit too long. I'd say watch it once to get a feel for the type of movie it is and to see the twists and turns. But you don't have to revisit it unless you really want multiple viewings.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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