Triangle of Sadness is now streaming on Hulu, which means you can easily sneak another Best Picture nomination off your Oscars 2023 to-watch list.
Written and directed by Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund, this dark satire is the perfect watch for anyone who loves “Eat the Rich” movies like The Menu, Ready or Not, and Parasite. That said, it is not for the faint of heart or stomach. Much of the film takes place on a luxury boat cruise that goes horribly awry and features an extensive, explicit sequence of rich people vomiting, among other gross bodily functions.
But, apparently, it wasn’t gross enough for the Academy. Triangle of Sadness was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. The film is also the final film of South African actress and model Charlby Dean, who stars as Yaya in the film and died suddenly at the age of 32 in August, just before the film’s release. character in the film.
Like many movies these days, Triangle of Sadness opts for an ambiguous conclusion. If you were confused, read on for an analysis of the triangle of sorrow plot and the climactic ending to the triangle of sorrow. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
Triangle of sadness plot summary:
Carl (Harris Dickinson), a male model, and Yaya (Charlby Dean), a socialite are dating. Their relationship is fraught – Karl is annoyed that Yaya makes more money than him, and still expects him to pay for meals. But Carl has no problem accepting the free luxury cruise tickets he gets from Yaya’s job.
The cruise, which takes place on a luxury yacht, begins as a glamorous experience. We meet the crew, including Paula (Vicki Berlin), the chief of staff, who takes her job very seriously. Her first priority is to give guests a great experience, and she advises her employees to never say “no” to a customer. We also meet some guests, including Dmitry (Zlatko Burik), a wealthy Russian businessman who made his money selling fertilizer in the 80s; Therese (Iris Burben), a woman confined to a wheelchair who is able to speak only one sentence in German after a stroke; and Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin), a lonely 30-millionaire who made his fortune in technology. We also meet the captain of the boat (Woody Harrelson), who is an alcoholic and refuses to come out of his room.
Paula finally convinces the captain to come out to her room for a “captain’s dinner”, a fancy meal where the captain meets and feeds all the guests. But due to a miscommunication, they have dinner on the night when the ship would be passing through a storm. And thanks to a guest’s insistence that the crew all go swimming, to prove that “we are all equal,” dinner is poorly prepared. The result is that almost everyone at the Captain’s Diner is seasick. The water turns rougher and rougher, and all the guests are vomiting, having diarrhea, crying, and generally having a bad time. It is very gross.
Meanwhile, the Captain and Dimitri drink together and argue about communism, socialism, and capitalism. Dimitri drunkenly overhears a PA announcing that the boat is going down, causing many of the guests to panic and grab their lives. This turns out to be a good move. The boat eventually goes down, but not because of the storm. The storm calms down in the morning, but the yacht is then attacked by pirates, who blow up the ship. The boat sinks, but some of the guests and crew are able to make it to the shore of an island in a life raft.
Karl and Yaya are among the survivors who arrive on the island, along with Paula, Dimitri, Therese, and Jarmo. There is also Nelson (Jean-Christophe Foley), whom Dimitri accuses of being one of the pirates, although Nelson says he worked as an engineer on the boat. The survivors are soon joined by Abigail (Dolly de Leon), who worked as a cleaning lady on the yacht and washed up on shore in a large lifeboat, stocked with water and snacks. At first, Paula tries to keep ordering Abigail to better serve the guests. But it soon becomes clear that Abigail is the most capable person on the island. He is able to catch fish and light a fire to cook food for everyone. Abigail tells everyone that if they want her to keep them alive, she is now the captain.
Abigail uses her newfound power to “buy” sex with Karl, giving him extra snacks and Yaya. Carl begins having sex with Abigail every night and even talks about breaking up with Yaya and actually being her boyfriend. Yaya grows increasingly worried about Carl and Abigail’s relationship. One day, Yaya decides to climb the mountain to see if she can find anything. Abigail offers to go with her and tells Carl to stay behind, as she wants alone time with Yaya.
The Triangle of the End of Suffering Explained:
While hiking, Yaya discovers an elevator built into the rocks and learns that the island is a luxury resort. Yaya is thrilled to be saved and runs to get on the elevator, but Abigail holds Yaya back. She tells Yaya to “enjoy the moment” with her. The lift arrives, and the doors open. Abigail tells Yaya that she just needs to pee, and then they can leave. Yaya agrees to wait for Abigail while looking out to sea.
Abigail picks up a huge rock and comes at Yaya from behind. She moves to hit Yaya on the head, but then Yaya speaks up, “Abigail, I can try and help you. I don’t know how, but… Abigail, maybe you can come over and work for me.” Can you do it?” We see Abigail’s face, brimming with both anger and hesitation. Then Yaya says, “You can be my assistant.”
Before we get to see how Abigail reacts to this, the film cuts to a shot of Carl running frantically through the trees. He runs faster and faster, cuts through trees, and screams in distress. And with this, the film ends.
Does Abigail kill Yaya at the end of the triangle of sorrow?
We don’t know. By choosing not to show us how that scene resolves, the film leaves it open as to whether or not Abigail kills Yaya. That said, I think it’s quite likely that yes, Abigail did kill Yaya. Why would Carl be running through the woods unless he was looking for his two girlfriends? It didn’t take long for the girls to find a lift. If Abigail had allowed Yaya to live, surely they would have reported back to the rest of the survivors that she had been saved. The logical conclusion is that Abigail killed Yaya, and either did not return to the others, or she went back and told Carl that Yaya had died in a tragic accident. Karl is either running through the woods in search of the women, or he is running because he is mourning Yaya’s death.
Too? I find it hard to believe that Abigail would let Yaya live after offering her a job as an assistant. No one wants a job as an assistant. He is just kind.
Was Nelson the Pirate in the Triangle of Sorrows?
Yes. I think. That’s also left ambiguous, but one interesting thing about watching Triangle of Sadness with captions on Hulu is that the movie’s captions refer to Nelson’s character as a “pirate.” Also, after Dimitri and Nelson become friends, Dimitri asks Nelson imaginary questions about what he might be like as a pirate, and Nelson gives him some strangely specific imaginary answers about how much money he makes, how he Attacks boats, and so on. Maybe I’m wrong but I think the implication here is that Nelson is actually a pirate.