Dark comedy Triangle of Sadness was the second consecutive film from Swedish writer-director Ruben Ostlund that won the Palme d’Or, after The Square. Triangle of Sadness is a parody of pretentious bourgeois culture, just like its predecessor. It is a comedy set mainly on a yacht with zany characters. The billionaire guests are joined by the working class crew, who must cater to them, despite their impracticality. Ostlund can use the contrast to make a more pointed commentary on class, with funny but uneven results.

The couple of social media influencers Yaya and Carl (Harris Dickenson, Charlbi Dean) fight over money and their dynamic. The couple joins a luxury ship, where the peppy Paula is served by Vicki Berlin and the crew. The crew must satisfy the whims of ultra-rich passengers. Dimitry, a Russian businessman who made a fortune after the fall of the USSR (Zlatko buric) is also boarding. The guests will be joined for dinner by Captain Thomas Smith, a drunkard (Woody Harrelson), as the yacht braces itself against a storm. As the passengers become seasick, the Captain and Dimitry discuss capitalism and communism on the boat’s audio system. When the yacht is destroyed, and passengers are left on a deserted island with no other option but to fight for survival, class distinctions are broken.

Ostlund’s social commentary can be a bit obvious and invasive. The film also lacks the intellectual sophistication that a freshman college student would have when he tells his family during Thanksgiving about the evils capitalism. The film’s second act is weakened by the third act, which fails to provide a satisfactory resolution. Triangle of Sandness may not have deserved its Academy Award nomination as Best Picture, however it has enough humor to make a viewing worthwhile. Dickenson, as Carl in the film, is a great actor who shows how power changes from one character to another.

Triangle of Sadness, as well as other recent highbrow movies that satirize the rich, know that they are satirizing the same pretentious and cultured types that they target. The films are shown in urban art theaters located in expensive neighborhoods, or suburban multiplexes that have a Neiman-Marcus anchor. Many of the audience may also consider themselves progressives and sympathetic to Ostlund’s societal critique. In a future film Ostlund may be able to comment more clearly on the symbiotic relationships between Marxist artists, and the wealthy benefactors that use their art for commercial purposes.