TIFF 2022: Triangle of Sadness Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

The Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Triangle of Sadness is a ridiculous satirical dark comedy that certainly does not pull its punches as it fearlessly takes shots at everyone and everything. It’s quite remarkable that a film such as this one could earn such a reward, however, it is definitely a deserved one. While it won’t be for everyone, long running time aside, that fearlessness demonstrated by a sharp script, its sense of style, and a group of committed performances to tie it all together make it one of the best films of the year so far. Though many bits and pieces of the film have been revealed over all of its promotional material thus far, the barfing poster and the moments of barfing in the trailer are something, the actual film is much more than that. It is relentless but Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Woody Harrelson, and others are up to the task at keeping up with the ridiculousness.

Triangle of Sadness sees a young model couple named Carl (Dickinson) and Yaya (Dean) and a group of other incredibly-wealthy guests embark on a cruise that would ultimately go horribly wrong. The film beautifully establishes that ridiculous tone early on by highlighting the stark contrast of the wealth gap of today which set the stage for that cruise. Carl and Yaya were the way into this world for audiences and on the younger end of the generational spectrum but they were merely a small piece of a bigger picture. They were relatively normal in comparison to the other cruise patrons who were essentially caricatures and the absolute worst. Watching them interact with each other and the less fortunate cruise staff was hilarious and a nice buildup to their inevitable comeuppance. Meanwhile, the voice of reason seemed to be burnt out ship captain named Thomas (Harrelson) who took some shots of his own. Speaking of that comeuppance, it was as beautiful as it was chaotic and that chaos continued as survivors were forced to fend for themselves on an island despite possessing no survival skills whatsoever. Suffice it to say that this was when the real growing began.

The best part of Triangle of Sadness was of course its performances with Harris Dickinson leading the way as Carl and Harrelson’s zingers as Thomas also stealing scenes but the overall commitment of the cast should be commended. Dickinson’s charm and surprising comedic timing both work to his benefit but Carl was not without his faults, just like everyone else. Dean went a similar path as Yaya with a compelling screen presence as she held her own. Harrelson, in a limited role, stole scenes with his many zingers and an energy that complimented the chaos.

At the end of the day, Triangle of Sadness will leave audiences feeling a lot of feelings but will also make them think which is a quality of a great film.

 still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.