Triangle of Sadness - Contextual Evidence

Media Narrative and Contexts

Audience Evidence for Aus post-covid living through living crisis

• “Renters have an average of $13,300 less a year to spend on non-essentials compared with 2020” - (The Age, 2024)

• “The rate of inflation, which peaked at around 8 per cent in late 2022, has now been elevated for two years and, for much of that time, wages growth lagged price growth.” - (The Age, 2024)

Cannes Festival Audience Engagement

• “The movie earned an uproarious eight-minute standing ovation after a lively screening that found the audience at Cannes’ Palais theatre shrieking in horror and delight.”

• “The audience at the Palais shrieked, covered their eyes and roared with laughter. Three attendees were spotted walking out of the Palais balcony amid the [20 min long vomit] sequence, but everyone else in the crowd responded with approval.

• (Variety, 2022)

Production Context of ToS - classism

• “greatest boom in the yacht business that’s ever existed.” (New Yorker, 2022)

•  “In 2021, we learn, close to nine hundred superyachts were sold worldwide.” (Criterion 2021)

•  two thirds of the middle class moving to below the line of poverty from 2006-2021

• 1% of Sweden's population hold more than 40% of the country's private wealth

• According to Social Europe, opinion polls showed that 80% of people believed Sweden is a class based society

Institutional context and effect

• budget of 15.6 million USD - partially funded by Swedish gov due to attempts to boost economy in COVID

• exterior set - Christina O - name of the superyacht used in the film

• interior set - fully crafted on a large scale gimbal that could tilt up to 20degrees - filmed for 9 days

Social context - progressive gender roles in Sweden

• Italy who's Parliament is 35.7% women while Sweden's is 47% women.

• Sweden was rated 83.8/100 by the European Institute of Gender Equality

Rise of conservative values is Sweden 2022

• Sweden's 2022 election, the conservative parties, the Sweden Democrats and the Moderate Party, came in 2nd and 3rd place

audience expectation for an eat the rich film

• “the political message in “Triangle of Sadness” is like a hammer to the head. (The New Yorker 2022)

• “In our era of climate crisis and obscene wealth, movies featuring cruise ships, troubled yachting excursions, and travellers stranded on the beach are newly relevant, and have popped up with some frequency” - (Criterion 2023)

Ostlund’s intended impact on audience

“take it ten steps further”

“punch the audience”