The Ten Shapes of Sadness

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” Leo Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina. The film Triangle of Sadness levels that happiness disparity and flattens the field.
Triangle of Sadness is a satirical black comedy directed by Ruben Östlund. Winning the 2022 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the festival’s highest prize, the film mocks the structure of society that privileges beauty, wealth, and social hierarchy. It does so through a lens focusing on characters of different socio-economic classes and their adventures while on a journey on a luxury ship.
Revolving around a luxury ship that carries a motley crew and passengers, including the lowly maintenance staff, the ultra-rich, hangers-on, and social media influencers, the film follows unexpected and tumultuous events on the ship that ends in a crash, sweeping the survivors to an isolated island. It is here that the satire shows its full fangs in its critique of society’s winner-take-all structure.
Marooned on a lifeless island, the privileges the survivors enjoyed in the real world unravel, and the social hierarchy breaks down in the blink of an eye. In one scene, a billionaire Russian oligarch begs a toilet cleaner for food. The toilet cleaner becomes powerful because she possesses the skills of catching fish, making fire, and cooking–the only lifeline. The film ends with a total overturning of the power dynamics of the survivors, whose erstwhile riches, power, and beauty turn meaningless on an unfriendly island where survival instincts take over above anything else.
I will not recount the scene-by-scene events portrayed in the film (which has many vomiting and retching moments). That is for you to watch and enjoy. After watching the movie, I fleshed out some harsh realities of life, which are the focus of this micro-review, as highlighted below.
1. SOCIAL STATUS IS FRAGILE: The film highlights the unpredictability of life. One incident can wipe away your social standing in a matter of seconds. Think of a viral video of your weak moments leaked to social media or a plain motor vehicle accident that cripples you for life. Or one fine morning, amidst a bad law and order situation, you receive a demand letter from an upstart revolutionary front asking for a few paltry crores as a modest contribution to the cause.
2. OUR TRUE COLOURS EMERGES IN ADVERSITY: Bogus impressions and fakery don’t last long. When you fall into a deep hole, you will forget your niceties, style, and modesty and readily hold out your hands to even a straw for survival.
3. POWER DYNAMICS ARE TEMPORARY: Don’t be too proud of your accomplishments. More often than not, they result from a chance factor, not a divine will. The ground beneath your feet can be swept away anytime by evolving circumstances and life’s shaky fortunes. Be grateful for what you have and who you have become so far due to the interplay of complexities that are not entirely of your making.
4. RELATIONSHIPS ARE RECIPROCAL: The most robust relationships bend in the face of trials and tribulations. Ultimately, some subconscious arithmetic maintains relationships based on mutual benefits. A romance that burns bright will taper when the soothing music, ambience, and moonlit dinners are removed from the picture. The mantra is: don’t settle for anything less in life, whether in relationships or objects of desire.
5. WE ARE ACTORS ON THE LIFE STAGE: Your roles are performative. For example, you may roar in your bedroom, participate in the rat race at the office, and lick the boots of the mighty behind the scenes.
6. MARXISM IS ALWAYS RELEVANT: The one who controls the purse strings dominates the world. Thankfully, you can fight your way up to higher ranks or could use some lady luck’s charms to jumpstart a sprint. Most of the time, it’s the accident of your birth that essentially defines your class and status.
7. HUMAN NATURE IS COMPLEX: The film rejects the deterministic view of individuals’ personalities. An individual contains multitudes:  flaws, idiosyncrasies, cravings, and contradictions that change like chameleons under varying circumstances.
8. SURVIVAL TRUMPS OTHER CONCERNS: The film reinforces Darwin’s theory that we are survivalists and procreators first. Other pursuits are accessories to the original plans of selfish genes we all carry.
9. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE HUMOUR: Humour, irony, and sarcasm are effective release valves for lightening the absurdities and injustices in life. A little levity at work and home does wonders to lift our spirits, second only to alcohol. Cathartic, I say.
10. KNOW THYSELF: It pays to disassociate yourself from the mundane and everyday aspects of life and reflect philosophically once in a while to discover the real you beneath your skin: your priorities, the values you cherish, personal demons, dreams, and hopes. Triangle of Sadness is all about helping you find that inspiration for introspection. Leo Tolstoy would have loved this film.
Trivia: The young real-life model Charlbi Dean tragically passed away due to an illness before the movie’s release.