MOVIE REVIEW: 'Triangle of Sadness' Examines Where True Power Lies

Ruben Ostlund returns with another whirlwind of a movie after regaling us with Force Majeure  and The Square.  His film Triangle of Sadness which won the Palme D'Or this year, puts a group of extremely wealthy people in a luxury yacht where the staff and the help seem almost invisible and dispensable, and by a strange of twist, this motley crew of the very rich and the help find themselves in a deserted island drawing into play the question, where does true power lie?

This movie is especially special to Filipinos like me, as answering that question, in the third act of his film, Ostlund puts a Filipina actress, Dolly de Leon, front and center.  There is considerable buzz around de Leon's performance and I myself only learned about her because of this movie and I don't remember a local movie she has starred in mainly because she said she only worked in student films and indie movies.  

However, she makes a commanding presence in the third act and I love that scene where she says, "Who's the captain of the ship now?".  She even uses her newfound power to seduce my long time movie crush Harris Dickinson who is almost 90% shirtless in this movie, to my eternal gratitude to Ostlund LOL.  I first saw Dickinson in Beach Rats, and here, he really acquires that model-esque jaw required for the movie.

Ostlund has left it to the viewer to determine the ending.  For me, I will side with de Leon and she does that dastardly deed if only to maintain her 'power' in the group.  However, for how long can she keep that status quo is the question.  She will have to go back to the previous 'world order' and just find herself a way to worm herself back to the top of the food chain.

It is an engaging movie and the way it pokes fun at the ultra-rich is just hilarious.  Vomit here, vomit there.  Sometimes that Patek Philippe or Rolex watch will not save your life.