Triangle of Sadness

I did quite enjoy this, but it's far too long and I found that the funniest bits had all already been seen in the trails! Initially, it centres around the fairly tempestuous relationship between models "Carl" (Harris Dickinson) and "Yaya" (Charlbi Dean). The latter is an influencer who looks at their relationship as something more transient; he is much more besotted - and so vows to make her fall in enduring love with him. Off onto a luxury yacht they head for an holiday with a few millionaires run by the super-officious "Paula" (Vicki Berlin) and captained by the dipsomaniac Woody Harrelson. The two befriend the lively and charismatic Russian oligarch "Dimitry" (Zlatlo Buric) and his wife "Vera" (Sunnyi Melles) before a captain's dinner that the choppy seas ensure ends in a messy and entertaining disaster! The remainder of their adventure has something of the "Admirable Crichton" to it, as they must adapt to the command of their erstwhile toilet cleaner "Abigail" (Dolly De Leon) who exacts her own unique sort of fees from her erstwhile patrons in return for catching fish and lighting fires... It does take a ping at the vacuousness of the modelling industry and at the unscrupulousness of big business - best exemplified in one scene with Oliver Ford Davies and Amanda Walker as the demure Brits who made their fortune selling "the greatest single contribution to democracy" (hand grenades!). Sadly, though, the moments of humour are relatively short and sweet when put into the context of this lengthy and frequently rather dull enterprise. Dickinson looks great shirtless, but as an actor he has limitations and I didn't really feel much chemistry between him and, well, anyone else. The last half hour could have been better, funnier, had there been a slight sense of menace - but somehow I just knew that the ending was going to deliver they way it does. Buric adds value, as does Henrik Dorsin's gazillionaire "Jarmo" but by half way through the joke had worn too thin to sustain it and I was a little bored. Doesn't need a big screen, and co-produced by the BBC I expect it can wait for Christmas television for most of us.

sketched, never completed Looks like the director/writer had some notes, and didn't get around to write a complete script. So the movie starts out very promising, but then gradually runs out of ideas, until the last half is just ticking off the boxes of expected items. The quirky, funny look into modelling is followed by a well cast and (in some moments) acted part about relationship issues between inexperienced, clueless, and selfish people. We learn that the naïve male model is actually in love, while his female model/influencer counterpart tells him he's nice entertainment until she finds a rich guy to be trophy wife for. This doesn't deter him... and that was the promising bit. Next, they are on a luxury yacht for the decadents; and there is still potential for a really good story: the upstairs/downstairs angle is only implemented in a few scenes, most screen time of this part is spent on lavish dining with icky "haute cuisine" food in rough seas, and the consequences thereof. That was when the really good part could've started: how to they meet or avoid gazes the next day, the day after? What has changed, how, what shouldn't and how do class barriers break? Instead, we get a clownish intermezzo and next, the boring island section. This part is just tedious agitprop, reducing the (already shallow) characters to templates, and doing all the expected bits. Waste of time, talent, and a nice beach. For some reason, people are so content with half-baked products these days, you can even win prizes this way. 5/10, there's better ways to waste time, but this isn't the worst either.