Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winning film was yet another of the auteur’s black satirical comedy eviscerating not only the rich but those in the societally deemed privileged class. It was a bitingly funny look at money, power, status, class, looks, gender and wokeness with a story written and directed by Östlund that was expectedly predictable but also surprisingly unexpected.
An elevated cringe comedy - with so many genuinely laugh out loud, also sticky moments (the whole second half of that second act!) that would have usually made me cringed - by a master auteur who was clear and focused on his razor sharp storytelling and how he wanted to tell it. There was nary much fat over the 147 minutes runtime.
However, it’s three-part structural divide, although allowing for the transition of themes and characters, did seem arbitrary and gave the film a feeling of lack of cohesion save from the presence of our supposed two lead characters. And in all honesty, this film was more an ensemble study with those two and the overarching themes as a through line.
That said, Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean were authentically cast as good looking Millennials/Gen-Zs and Östlund honestly did not require them to do much “Acting”. Woody Harrelson may have been the big-named Hollywood star, but his performance was really just him reprising many of his old stoner roles. The scene stealer was Dolly de Leon and it would be great if she steals a nod in an already crowded Best Supporting Actress race.
As a foreign picture, it will be a shoo in to get into the Best International Picture race. However, it should also really be considered for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing.
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