Best Pictures #92: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

by A.J. 

Best Pictures #92: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

“You are fortunate to be living in great times.”

The 2022 version of All Quiet on the Western Front is good enough to stand alongside the best anti-war films, but it will stand out because it is one of the still small number of movies about the First World War, and, most notably, it is German made. Published in 1929, Erich Maria Remarque’s now classic novel about an eager, patriotic German teenager experiencing the true horrors of war on the Western Front in Northern France, was first adapted by Universal Pictures the following year. That film, directed by Lewis Milestone, won Best Picture at the 3rd Academy Awards and remains one of the great anti-war films, with sights that still shock and scenes loaded with undated pathos. The novel and film ran afoul of the emerging Nazi party, who sabotaged screenings before both the novel and film were banned after they took power. Another version of All Quiet on the Western Front (there is also a surprisingly memorable made-for-TV version from 1979), seems unnecessary, but director Edward Berger uses modern cinematic styles and techniques, in addition to modern technology and visual effects, to create a harrowing and effective anti-war film.

Modernizations aside, the biggest difference between this version and the classic film and novel is the addition of scenes of the German High Command negotiating the armistice. Daniel Brühl plays real life German official Matthias Erzberger, who works to negotiate a quick armistice. He is not presented as heroic, but he is frustrated by the stubbornness of the German generals and the arrogance of the French generals, who understand that they are winning. While the politicians and generals quibble over words and protocol, teenage Paul, who joined the German army in spring of 1917 full of patriotic idealism, and his fellow soldiers are suffering and fighting and dying in mud and squalor, in conditions that before 1914 were unimaginable. The sharp and jarring juxtaposition of these scenes is intentional and highly effective. The First World War was called The Great War and The War To End All Wars because the methods of the war and conditions it created were so awful that, surely, there would be nothing after.

Berger’s film excels at something terrible, successfully conveying the horrors of modern industrial war: the grueling and terrible conditions of trench warfare; stabbing a man multiple times only to be trapped in a bomb crater with him as he dies slow enough to make you realize his humanity; the absurd and terrifying sights of soldiers in gas masks; a friend exploding into a spray of blood; WWI era tanks, lumbering steel rhombuses slouching forward and spitting explosions; soldiers with guns that throw fire instead of bullets.   

As Paul, Felix Kammerer is good at being simultaneously a generic stand-in for any young person caught up in their country’s war and a distinct person, easy to distinguish and follow. Albrecht Schuch is memorable as “Kat,” a veteran of the trenches. Paul and Kat have quiet moments together, cherished for their calmness and connection. Paul has an arc, though it is uncomplicated (patriotic idealism into jaded realism), and the rare moments of calmness do not build character so much as they maintain humanity. The amazing and moving speech Paul gives to a group of high school students at the behest of his former teacher (whose words inspired him to enlist), where he tells them that it is awful to die for your country, as well as the final image of the 1930 version, one of the most famous and poignant in film history, are replaced with a new gut wrenching ending.

I read one critic describe Sam Mendes’s WWI film 1917, a Best Picture nominee of 2019, as a movie not about the horrors of war, but a horror movie about war. I am not sure I agree with regards to that movie (I found it extremely tense and affecting, but a bit too thrilling to convey horror), but I believe this sentiment is true of Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, and, now, perhaps, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front; time will tell. This is a rough movie to watch, and I probably would not have seen it if it had not been nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards. I was much more willing to watch the 20-minute vomiting and diarrhea scene from Triangle of Sadness than to watch this movie. However, this is one remake I will never begrudge because its effect and the effect of the 1930 version and the novel remain the same: war is cruel and disgusting and the ones who fight and suffer and die have no say in how it is fought or when it ends. 

Nominees: Malte Grunert, producer

Director: Edward Berger

Screenplay: Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell; based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque

Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl

Production Companies: Amusement Park

Distributor: Netflix

Release Date: October 28th, 2022

Total Nominations: 9, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: International Feature Film-Germany; Adapted Screenplay-Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell; Cinematography-James Friend; Production Design-Christian M. Goldbeck, Ernestine Hipper; Makeup and Hairstyling-Heike Merker, Linda Eisenhamerova; Original Score-Volker Bertelmann; Sound- Viktor Prasil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel, Stefan Korte; Visual Effects-Frank Petzold, Viktor Muller, Markus Frank, Kamil Jaffar

Best Pictures #91: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Top Gun: Maverick

by A.J.

Best Pictures #91: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Top Gun: Maverick

“You’ve been called back to Top Gun.”

I was skeptical, more than skeptical actually, about a sequel to Top Gun thirty-six years later. Even though I enjoy the original very much, and am a big Tom Cruise fan, I was flat out dismissive after seeing the trailer. I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel that no one asked for, is not just a fantastic, entertaining summer action movie, it is a masterfully crafted, exciting, and fun movie that every big budget action movie should strive to be like. If it was released in the 1980’s or 90’s this might be just another action movie, but in 2022, Tom Cruise, as star and producer, and director Joseph Kosinski have created a dazzling technical achievement, a thrilling entertainment, and something truly special. 

After his program testing experimental supersonic jets is shut down in favor of a drone program, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is called back to the Navy’s elite pilot training program known as Top Gun. However, Maverick won’t just be teaching young pilots, he will be training them for an almost impossible mission deep in enemy territory. Like the first Top Gun movie, the “enemy” is never specified or seen up close. Like the first Top Gun, this film can be seen as patriotic Navy propaganda or an elaborate recruitment video. However, like the first movie, Top Gun: Maverick is neither political nor mindless. It is a thrill ride with enough sense to allow room for characters to grow and even emotions to build. 

This older version of Maverick is a more mature character, deeply informed by the tragedy in his past, the death of his best friend and F-14 Tomcat partner, Goose (played by Anthony Edwards in Top Gun). Maverick is concerned with the safety of his students, but not his own. It is interesting to note that in Top Gun, characters are referred to almost exclusively by their call signs. Before watching the sequel I could not have guessed Maverick's real name. In Top Gun: Maverick, he is called Pete more than a few times. In the training scenes and in the air, Tom Cruise shows us Maverick. In the scenes on the ground, in scenes showing concern and vulnerability, Cruise lets us see Pete Mitchell. I’m a huge fan of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible movies, but this movie's Oscar nominated screenplay allows for character driven acting that we haven’t seen from Cruise in a while. 

Jennifer Connolly plays Penny, a divorced mother and owner of a bar in Fighterown, USA, the location in San Diego of the Top Gun training facility. She is also an old flame of Maverick. They reconnect in a pretty amusing scene of him violating her bar policy and having to pay for everyone’s drinks. But there are other scenes where Connolly gets to play a mature character, not just a trophy. These more intimate scenes I enjoyed as much as the rest of the movie. 

The other important relationship for Maverick is with Bradley Bradshaw, callsign Rooster, who is Goose’s son and also a Top Gun pilot. I’ve been no fan of Miles Teller, but he does a fine job as Rooster, the cautious flyer with a chip on his shoulder. Maverick pulled strings to set back Rooster’s career as a Navy pilot to keep him safe. Now, Maverick must decide on sending Rooster on a mission with slim chance for survival. Visually, Teller is essentially cosplaying Anthony Edwards as Goose; his entrance is played on the right side of parody. Character-wise Teller and the screenplay avoid the pitfalls of this kind of character; he never comes across as whiny or over burdened, nor is he simply a rehash of Goose. I would have liked more time with the other new pilots (Hangman played by Glen Powell and Phoenix played by Monica Barbaro) but, as is, they are all the movie needs. 

Maverick’s biggest supporter, and the reason he still has a Navy career, is his old rival turned friend, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), now an admiral and commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Iceman is suffering from throat cancer, similar to what Kilmer experienced recently in real life, so he and Maverick communicate via text messages. Kilmer has only one scene where he and Cruise meet face to face and it, like so much of the movie, avoids pitfalls even though it plays out how you might expect. It is a wonderful and emotional character focused scene. 

Top Gun: Maverick received 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Original Song for “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and Bloodpop, Visual Effects, Sound, and Editing. Curiously absent is a nomination for the outstanding cinematography by Claudio Miranda. It is not just that there are great landscapes captured from the air by zooming jets. New techniques were developed to mount the IMAX quality cameras to the jets and Miranda worked with Sony to develop cameras that would fit inside the F-18s. This thrilling point of view footage combined with the excellent and rightfully nominated sound design really make you feel like you are in the jets, flying at supersonic speeds, trying not to blackout as the jets and pilots are pushed to their limits. Cruise made it well known that this movie used real jets and real G-forces and not only did I feel that in the theater, I even felt it watching at home on my regular TV with a regular sound set up. The cinematography and sound and editing and visual effects do more than just create thrills; they effectively convey the danger facing the pilots, which enhances the drama, which in turn adds another layer of substance. 

The references to the first Top Gun are more than just pandering winks and nods. Miles Teller plays “Great Balls of Fire” on a bar piano just like Anthony Edwards did in Top Gun, but this segues to a flashback to the first movie that builds drama while also functioning as exposition. The ending feels contrived but action movies, like horror movies, don’t have to be realistic, they just have to be good and Top Gun: Maverick is the best of the best. 

Nominees: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, Jerry Bruckheimer, producers

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Screenplay: Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks; based on characters created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connolly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Val Kilmer

Production Companies: Paramount Pictures, Skydance, TC Productions, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Release Date: May 27th, 2022

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Adapted Screenplay-Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie, Peter Craig, Justin Marks; Editing-Eddie Hamilton; Original Song-Lady Gaga, BloodPop for "Hold My Hand"; Sound-Mark Weingarten, James Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor; Visual Effects-Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, Scott R. Fisher

Best Pictures #90: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: The Banshees of Inisherin

 by A.J.

Best Pictures #90: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

The Banshees of Inisherin

“You liked me yesterday.”

Unlike writer-director Martin McDonagh’s previous films, In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, which were dark comedies—emphasis on the comedy—his latest, The Banshees of Inisherin, is simply a dark movie with some comedy, mostly at the beginning. There are certainly darker, more depressing movies, but this film’s bleakness is its means and its end. The characters and story serve the bleakness instead of bleak circumstances affecting the characters and moving them forward. This is certainly a well made movie on all fronts (acting, directing, writing, cinematography, and more), but it is not an enjoyable film. 

Set in 1923 as the Irish Civil War winds down, the citizens of a fictional island are close enough to the mainland to hear gunfire but are largely unaffected by the war. The film opens with the stereotypical sights of a perfect Irish day. There's even a rainbow as Padraic (Colin Farrell) strolls cheerfully to fetch his best friend Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) for their daily pint at the village pub. On this day however, Colm doesn’t answer the door and when they finally do meet Colm tells Padraic that he does not want anything to do with Padraic anymore and will not drink with or speak to him again. Eventually we learn that Colm thinks Padraic is dull and their dull conversations have held him back from achieving things like composing fiddle music. Colm is so committed to their separation that he swears to cut off a finger every time Padraic speaks to him. Padraic is either too dull or too loving to just let his friend go and the one sided conflict turns into mutual antagonism. Violence is done and deaths occur. One says to the other that they suppose things are finally over and the other replies that things are only beginning between them.

It is hard to articulate why some friendships end and the unintended consequences of that termination and The Banshees of Inisherin plays with this theme but does not fully explore that avenue. More directly, the troubles between Padraic and Colm seem to be a metaphor for Ireland’s strife with itself. In this way the movie succeeds greatly, also in conveying the needless and seemingly preventable grief the participants cause. 

Colin Farrell’s performance as the perhaps dull after all but well intentioned turned dark soul is great; he is the standout element of the whole movie. Farrell has always been a better actor than his mainstream roles allowed and here he shows sweetness, vulnerability, innocence, pettiness, all believably and compellingly. Brendan Gleeson is good, of course, but has had more complex and challenging roles (as in The Guard, a dark comedy written and directed by Martin McDonagh’s brother, John Michael McDonagh). Kerry Condon as Padraic’s spinster sister, Siobhán, is an interesting character, far more knowledgeable and sensible than her small island community deserves. Barry Keoghan as Padraic’s only other friend, Dom, is meant to be comic relief, and is great at it, but even his subplot is steeped in bleakness. Condon and Keoghan stand out so much because they promise a more entertaining movie than we are given. All four performers received Oscar nominations. 

The Banshees of Inisherin never achieves poignancy, despite its tragic events and grueling emotional trials because the focus is never so much on the characters as the conflict and harm, both physical and emotional, that is inflicted upon them. Martin McDonagh is aiming for the same blend of comedy and existentialism that the Coen Brothers achieved with movies like Barton Fink, A Serious Man and Miller’s Crossing, but he does not stick the landing. In Bruges (also starring Farrell and Gleeson) is a brilliant dark comedy that turns out like a Greek tragedy but is entertaining the whole way through making the tragedy and pathos hit hard. Seven Psychopaths is a film that is dark and funny and violent and memorable (please see it if you haven’t). McDonagh’s previous film, the multiple Oscar nominee Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri could not decide if it was supposed to be dark comedy or profound commentary on American society (the jokes in that movie felt out of place, almost inappropriate) and worked as well as it did only because of the performances from its impressive cast. The Banshees of Inisherin does not work, at least not as an entertainment, despite its great cast. Whatever Martin McDonagh’s next project is, I'm sure the cast will be talented and I hope the material lives up to the cast. 

Nominees: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh, producers

Director: Martin McDonagh

Screenplay: Martin McDonagh

Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan

Production Companies: Film4 Productions, Blueprint Pictures, TSG Entertainment

Distributor: Searchlight Pictures

Release Date: October 21st, 2022

Total Nominations: 9, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actor-Colin Farrell, Supporting Actor-Brendan Gleeson; Supporting Actor-Barry Keoghan; Supporting Actress-Kerry Condon; Director-Martin McDonagh; Original Screenplay-Martin McDonagh;Original Score-Carter Burwell; Editing-Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Best Pictures #89 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Women Talking

 by A.J.

Best Pictures #89 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Women Talking

“Your story will be different from ours.”

It feels wrong to say that Women Talking, given its subject matter, is entertaining. Yet it is never dull or boring; from beginning to end it is an engaging and interesting film, challenging only in its subject matter—women deciding how to deal with prolonged sexual and physical abuse. This is not a dour or harrowing film though its characters have been through harrowing experiences, nor is it like sitting through a lecture. The approach taken by director Sarah Polley, who also adapted the screenplay from the novel by Miriam Toews, keeps the focus on the characters, not the trauma, though their trauma informs so much about their personalities and perspectives. 

The setting is an isolated Mennonite community but the time and location remain unspecified for most of the movie. All of the men have traveled into the city to bail out one of them who was arrested and in jail. This gives the women of the community two days to gather and make a decision about their future. They meet in the loft of a barn and discuss their options: stay and fight, or leave. Either way they will likely be excommunicated, meaning they will be turned out of the community in this life and closed from heaven in the afterlife. Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, and Jessie Buckley are the most prominent players of a great ensemble. Salome (Foy) and Mariche (Buckley) provide fierce and impassioned speeches. Ona (Mara), playing a gentler character, provides introspection. Judith Ivey, as Ona’s mother, Agata, also gives a stand out performance. In a small role, Frances McDormand, who is also a producer, plays the mostly silent character known as Scarface, part of a third group of women who want to stay and do nothing. Thanks to the members of the talented ensemble, these characters are more than archetypes and their arguments are more than merely talking points, which makes their talk all the more compelling and urgent.

There is a lyrical, poetic quality thanks to the cinematography by Luc Montpellier and a brilliant moving score by Hildur Guðnadóttir, both of which should have received Academy attention. Women Talking also did not receive a very deserved nomination for editing by Christopher Donaldson and Roslyn Kalloo, one of its strongest elements. The women have only two days to debate and decide and while there is a strong sense of urgency, especially as the light changes and the first day passes, the pace never feels rushed. There is time for us to get to know the characters and their perspectives and how they got there. The editing also contributes to the poetic quality, mixing well-written and well-performed speeches with brilliantly photographed images. The cast also received no acting nominations though there are many worthy performances. Polley did not receive a Best Director nomination, another perplexing omission since the stylistic choices are what make this an engaging and memorable film and they do not come at the expense of or replace character development. Women Talking avoids so many pitfalls and clichés that this in itself is a testament to the skill at work behind and in front of the camera. The only Oscar nominations it did receive are for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay.

Though this is a dialogue heavy movie bound to a very limited number of locations (the barn and outside the barn), it never feels claustrophobic or static. This community is the whole world as far as these women know as they have also been forbidden to be educated. The flashbacks used are little more than quick cut-aways, but they feel like intimate windows.

Watching and listening to the women debate the pros and cons and logistics of their options is interesting and compelling and fills the story with tension. This is a serious movie but ultimately a hopeful one. Women Talking qualifies as an “important” movie because of its subject matter, but people should see this because it is a good movie, maybe even a great movie.

Nominees: Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner, Frances McDormand, producers

Director:  Sarah Polley

Screenplay: Sarah Polley; based upon the book by Miriam Toews

Cast: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey

Production Companies: Orion Pictures, Hear/Say Productions, Plan B Entertainment

Distributor: United Artists Releasing

Release Date: December 23rd, 2022

Total Nominations: 2, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Adapted Screenplay-Sarah Polley

Best Pictures #88: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Elvis (2022)

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #88: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Elvis (2022) 

“We are the same, you and I! We are two odd, lonely children, reaching for eternity.”

Even before the movie actually begins we see the Warner Bros. logo made of shiny gold and encrusted in shimmering jewels. This sight makes sense given that you are about to watch a biopic of Elvis Presley. It also makes sense because you are about to watch a movie directed by Baz Luhrmann. It’s no surprise that the king of rock and roll and the king of cinematic spectacle are a perfect match for each other. Luhrmann's maximalist, bombastic style hits or misses depending on the movie and, more importantly, the viewer. So, in spite of, and because of, all the flaws, strange choices, inexplicable and inconsistent motifs, frenetic montages, and over the top performance and sequences, this turns out to be an incredibly lively biopic. 

As much of a central character as Elvis is his manager Colonel Tom Parker, who is essentially the villain of Elvis’s life story. There are shades of Amadeus, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Hamilton in the screenplay and structure of Elvis; like those works, in which the antagonist is also the narrator, the Colonel serves as our narrator. However, this movie uses only broad strokes to paint Elvis and the Colonel so even after 2 hours and 45 minutes we’re left with sketches instead of full portraits. As the Colonel, Tom Hanks is thoroughly enjoying his wild, strange performance. He plays Colonel Parker, under tons of makeup and a fat suit, like a Batman villain from the 1960’s TV show. The Colonel’s accent is hard to pin down—at one point in his life he claimed to be a citizen of no nation, and thus not subject to any laws—and that is merely one of the over the top elements about Hanks’s performance.  

Austin Butler has a difficult task in playing Elvis. A larger than life character requires a larger than life performance, but Butler must also be the film’s emotional core. He earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for a performance that rides the line in an over the top movie but never becomes a caricature. Butler successfully makes Elvis a sympathetic person with a serious attitude for his music and the social concerns of the 1950’s and 60’s.

The attention given to comic books and superheroes and “peeping” as thematic refrains never really pays off, or adds up to anything significant though the movie returns to them again and again. The movie reaches a fever pitch as Elvis prepares for his Comeback Special. The importance to the Colonel of Elvis singing “Here Comes Santa Claus” cannot be overstated (“Here Comes Santa Claus” is said enough times to crack anybody’s sanity). 

The area where Baz Luhrmann excels is using his energetic, off-the-wall style to effectively convey the “why” of Elvis’s never before reached heights of superstardom and controversy. When Elvis first performs in front of a large crowd, wiggling his hips, the girls in the audience begin to scream, both are shocked and surprised at the effect they have on each other. This is intercut with dancers in a juke joint (where Elvis first heard the song) grinding on each other to a more blues-y version of the same song. It’s blunt, but the point, well understood but unspoken at the time, is made clear. That Elvis is a white man singing “race music” (music created by black musicians in the American South), in the same style and intensity of its black creators is not overlooked.

This movie shines in its musical scenes and montages where the music and the cinematic style converge into effective, even great, storytelling. Sometimes the dialogue or dramatic scenes in between feel like filler until the next lavish music sequence. That the music sequences are at times a more effective storytelling device than the dramatic sequences is not necessarily a negative, but it makes the movie feel uneven, especially as the runtime drags on. 

Perhaps the most significant achievement of the film, of its screenplay, direction, performances, is showing how Elvis Presley was caught, and in many ways trapped, in an abusive relationship with Colonel Tom Parker. That the Colonel took advantage of Elvis financially, and provided drugs to keep Elvis awake and performing is sadly not a surprise. What this film does is show the human side of this exploitation. The most emotional scenes come when Elvis seems on the verge of breaking with the Colonel only to go back. In this way the fun, campy biopic is also a tragedy. With his grandiose, baroque style, Luhrmann is able to portray so many different aspects of Elvis’s story and his undeniable long lasting influence. 

Nominees: Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss, producers

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Screenplay: Baz Luhrmann & Sam Bromell and Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner; story by Baz Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner

Cast: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge

Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, Bazmark Films, The Jackal Group

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: June 24th, 2022

Total Nominations: 8, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actor-Austin Butler; Cinematography-Mandy Walker; Costume Design-Catherine Martin; Editing-Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond; Production Design-Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Beverley Dunn; Makeup and Hairstyling-Mark Coulier, Jason Baird, Aldo Signoretti, Best Sound, David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson, Michael Keller

Best Pictures #87: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Triangle of Sadness

 by A.J.

Best Pictures #87: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Triangle of Sadness

“Can you relax your triangle of sadness?”

This should be said upfront: Triangle of Sadness is not for everyone. This is not only because of a prolonged scene of people vomiting and defecating all over a pleasure yacht, but also because of its slow but deliberate pace, penchant for awkward, uncomfortable humor, and not too subtle themes. I’m no fan of cringe-inducing humor or heavy handed messaging, but here writer-director Ruben Östlund pulls off the same delicate, deft touch that Rod Serling achieved with his The Twilight Zone, successfully combining socio-political commentary with entertainment. 

Triangle of Sadness is divided into three chapters and it is impossible to talk about the movie without revealing a little bit of each chapter, so, very mild spoilers follow. In Chapter 1, titled Carl and Yaya, we meet male model Carl (Harris Dickinson) and his financially struggling influencer girlfriend Yaya (Charlbi Dean). They are vapid young people and aren’t poor but also aren’t mega-wealthy. Their issues and arguments might be the most relatable part of the movie. In chapter 2, The Yacht, we meet some of the mega-wealthy 1 percent including a very proper British couple who made their fortune from manufacturing landmines and hand grenades (U.N. regulations really cut into their land mine profits). They also meet Dimitry (Zlatko Buric), a loud mouthed Russian oligarch who proclaims himself to be the “king of shit” because he made his fortune selling fertilizer. In Chapter 3: The Island, after the yacht is struck by a storm and pirate attack, the survivors find themselves on an island where their whole social order is turned upside down since the only person with survival skills is Abigail (Dolly De Leon), the ship’s toilet cleaner. The quandary posed by the power inversion of Chapter 3 is the crux of the movie, so though it takes a while to get there, most of what comes before feels worthwhile. 

There is no doubt that Triangle of Sadness will be remembered as the movie with an extended sequence of the characters vomiting and defecating everywhere on a fancy yacht. Supposedly it took six months to edit this sequence. This might be the most jarring and grossest out of place sequence since the vomit heavy story Gordy tells to his friends in Stand By Me. 

One of the ultra wealthy passengers, in her “kindness,” insists that all the crew members should have fun and swim in the ocean. She is wealthy enough, and the captain cannot be bothered to intervene, so the crew swims which pushes the dinner back to coincide with a choppy storm that throws the boat around while the guests are served fine dining. The captain, not a fan of fine dining, eats a cheeseburger and fries. Characters projectile vomit as the ship loses power and the crew do their best to maintain a sense of ordered normality. As the waves throw the ship around we see one character slide around the vomit covered floor of her bathroom as she tries to catch the toilet. The Marxist, not communist, Captain (Woody Harrelson), and Dimitry have an amusing drunken debate broadcast over the PA system while toilets explode and rivers of shit spill down staircases. The heavy rock music accompanying the scene somehow makes this all easier to take and conveys the intended humor and absurdity. 

In spite of everything that happens in Triangle of Sadness, it is not dour or mean spirited. Every character is vapid on some level, including the oppressed Abigail, but none are especially or intentionally cruel. Everyone is limited by their own limited experiences, and when confronted with a new scenario in Chapter 3 becomes overwhelmed. The brilliance of Triangle of Sadness is that it resists the temptation to turn into a Tales From the Crypt episode or slasher movie in which you watch, and enjoy, terrible people getting their karmic comeuppance. Östlund constructs a conundrum based on everything you’ve seen and then poses a question to the viewer. This means that, yes, there is an ambiguous ending–another reason this movie is not for everyone.

Triangle of Sadness, a reference to the area between the eyebrows and down to the nose, is ultimately a fine dark, off-kilter comedy and social commentary. This is not an out-and-out comedy though many scenes and situations are quite humorous. Östlund plays out several scenes in wide shots leaving us to fill in the detail, making the viewer as an observer rather than a participant. That none of the characters are especially likable or unlikeable makes this more complex than just a morality play. Östlund’s Oscar nominations for Original Screenplay and Best Director are unconventional but well earned. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Palme d’Or award, Triangle of Sadness is a most atypical Best Picture nominee.  

Nominees: Erik Hemmendorff, Philippe Bober, producers

Director: Ruben Östlund

Screenplay: Ruben Östlund

Cast: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de Leon, Zlatko Burić, Woody Harrelson

Production Companies: Imperative Entertainment, Film i Väst, BBC Film, et al.

Distributor: Neon

Release Date: October 7th, 2022

Total Nominations: 3, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director-Ruben Östlund; Original Screenplay-Ruben Östlund