#gimmicky one-sentence meme review on letterboxd

[girltomboy]

I just watched Triangle of Sadness, a movie that's been on my watchlist for some time now, and while I was hesitant to click play on a 2.5 hour long movie, it was definitely worth it. It didn't feel long and excruciating, I didn't constantly check to see how much I have left of it. It's a gripping movie that honestly achieved what The Menu didn't even crawl close to: comedy, satire, a statement, a mirror.

The ending took me by surprise, I was pleased to discover that Ruben Östlund intended for it to be a puzzling cliffhanger, and even said himself that he doesn't know more about it. This playful approach to movies is rare but welcome, and it's quite refreshing to be able to analyze an ending in its entirety.

The big question about it seems to be whether or not Abigail ends up killing Yaya with the large stone after hugging her so genuinely moments before. I thought the parallel between the torturous killing of the female donkey and the rage-induced, cold blooded murder of Yaya would be quite clever. Some kind of a Cain vs. Abel moment, especially in the context of Abigail seeking Carl for herself. Returning to life as before would mean a loss of power and authority for Abigail; she would go back to her stable and secure life, but she would lose her entire "matriarchy", as Yaya had put it, that she quickly curated on the island. So it would somewhat make sense for her to wish to keep it, no?

Then there's (what would probably be) Yaya's last words. She proposes to Abigail that she work for her as an assistant, once they return. She speaks with her back turned, unaware of Abigail's intentions (or so we think - maybe she hears her footsteps? Maybe she senses Abigail's malice? The beauty is that we don't fucking know!). This could make Abigail hesitate, out of fear of Yaya turning around, or maybe out of gratitude. Why go back to being a toilet manager, when you can be the assistant of an influencer, go from a thankless job to an empty job? But Yaya utters this proposal with her back turned, we don't even see her mouth moving. So perhaps these words are only in Abigail's head. Perhaps she's trying to fuel her rage so she can drop the large rock on Yaya's head. Or perhaps she's trying to mentally talk herself out of it from Yaya's perspective. Either way, her expression makes it clear that she is about to make a life-changing decision.

The last shot of the movie shows Carl running through the island in a bloody and sweaty frenzy, at dusk. He is running towards the other side of the island, making it clear that the girls have not returned - or not both of them, at least. I read an interpretation that said he was running for his masculinity, I think that's a reductive take. Men are always expecting other people (mainly women) to bring them their masculinity on a tray, and when they're not satisfied with it, they spit it out and say "not like that", blaming the other for it, of course. Anyway, I thought that was a pretty sad projection, but it's welcome nevertheless because it's a fictional creation with an open ending.

Overall, I think this movie is a pertinent commentary on the futility of wealth, class differences and the ridiculousness of rich people. On the yacht, Abigail was a toilet manager. On the island, she was the captain, and made sure to let everybody know. Her skills were valuable to everyone both on the yacht and on the island, whereas the wealth of the customers was only meaningful on the yacht, where it was merely symbolic - a symbol of what they were allowed to say and do: order the staff around with ridiculous requests - power and authority. Not taking no for an answer, even being offended at the sound of a No. Ultimately, the abuse of power and authority leaked, and lead to a reversal of roles in terms of class, manipulation, cowardice, death.

What I also loved about it was that, despite being an open-ended movie, it left no room to question anything but the ending. Everything is pretty much pieced together and there was no scene that was pointless or useless. Every detail holds a message, which made me eager to check out Ruben Östlund's other creations, and VERY excited for his upcoming project.