Obtuse Melancholy or The Savage Social Strata - Triangle of Sadness film review

To say that I was initially hesitant about this film is somewhat of an understatement. The reason for my skepticism was that I had not enjoyed the writer/director's 2014 effort Force Majeure, mostly because the characters in the film were despicable and shallow, and highly unrelatable (at least to me). I know that was the point of the film, but it made it really hard to watch.

Despite my reluctancy, this film piqued my interest when it won the Palm d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. While I don't usually give much credence to festival awards, at least the French have a respectable track record for often times choosing weird, polarizing, and just plain challenging films for the premiere awards at Cannes (think last year's Titane, for example).

But I digress.

In a nutshell, ToS is a brilliantly scathing black comedy, expertly and wryly taking the piss out of gender equality (or inequality as is often the case here), entitled wealth, class structure, social standing, the vapidy of advertising and influencing, and the general cluelessness people have about those around them, especially those dwelling in alternate financial realms (i.e. rich man/poor man). 

The film is told in three parts that feel like absurdist takes on Zoolander, The Poseidon Adventure (albeit by way of Monty Python), and Lord of the Flies. Sure, I'm being smidge facetious with those comparisons, mind you, but they are spot on more than you would think. Left field comparisons aside, the  film is it's own biting, gnawing, satirical entity, taking mundane situations--fighting over who pays the dinner bill--to topical world matters--open sea piracy, distribution of wealth, social and economic hierarchy, and much, much more--and skewering them with smirking aplomb.

I laughed out loud on more than one occasion, had to choke down some serious gagging reflexes a few other times, and found myself perplexed and overjoyed at the insanely ambiguous ending.

In short terms, this film is mondo entertaining and just the right amount of thought provoking.