An hour into Triangle of Sadness – the second consecutive film by Swedish director Ruben Östlund (following The Square in 2017) to both win the Palme d’Or at Cannes and include a shape in its title – a minor character is introduced. We have already met Carl (Harris Dickinson), a disgruntled British model, and his triangle of sadness: the crease that appears on the bridge of his nose when he frowns. What could a strapping young hunk have to frown about? Only that his girlfriend, the influencer and fellow model Yaya (Charlbi Dean), earns more than he does, yet still lets him pick up the bill when they eat out.
Her success has brought them a free cruise on a luxury mega-yacht. (The film was shot partly on the 99-metre Christina O, originally the property of Aristotle Onassis, who upholstered its bar stools in whale foreskin.) Fellow passengers include a Russian manure magnate (Zlatko Buric) and a benign elderly couple (Amanda Walker and Oliver Ford Davies) who made their billions selling grenades to war-torn countries.
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