How Triangle of Sadness Turns the Tables of Status, Anatomy of a Scene

The wealthy get a sendup and a sendoff in Triangle of Sadness, the latest feature from the Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, now in theaters. The film begins in the fashion world, following an influencermodel couple (Charlbi Dean and Harris Dickinson). The two get a free cruise on a luxury yacht, where they meet an assembly of very rich passengers. But things take a turn in the third act, when a smattering of those passengers turn up shipwrecked on an island. In this sequence, the characters, having spent an eerie first night on the island, wake up to see a lifeboat with only one person inside: Abigail (Dolly De Leon), who was a cleaning lady on the yacht. What was important for me, Ostlund said, was that I wanted to swap the power structures on the island. I wanted to turn them upsidedown. This scene begins that gradual change in the hierarchy, as Abigail, who has arrived with sustenance (as well as practical skills), begins to realize that she may have a currency on the island th