SPOILER ALERT: The clip above is from later in the “Triangle of Sorrows”
Set on a luxury yacht, Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning comedy The Triangle of Sadness is a powerful satire on the privilege of the rich. But it’s a satire whose most memorable character is a middle-aged “toilet manager” named Abigail, played by Filipino actress Dolly de Leon, who is married to Harris Dee. Jinson appears together in the exclusive clip above.
Little known outside of her native Philippines prior to the film’s Cannes premiere, De Leon garnered widespread praise from critics and audiences alike for her sly, unpredictable performance as Abaguile. To date, she has won a Los Angeles Film Critics Society Award and has been nominated for a Golden Globe and a London Film Critics Society Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.
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The scene above takes place not on a yacht, but on a lifeboat, as Abigail has become the leader of a group of castaways on a deserted island. Her ability to catch food and make fire elevates her to the highest social status, above her fellow shipwreck survivors, including oligarchs and fashion models.
One of the fashion models, Carl (Dickinson), has become Abigail’s mistress. “You give me something and I’ll give you something in return,” she tells him in this scene.
In a recent interview with TheWrap, De Leon spoke about the impact of this moment in the film, which depicts an unconventional sexual relationship with a degree of authenticity and consequence. Despite his penchant for raucous comedy, especially in the yachting scenes, Österlund (“Force Majeure” and “The Square”) shifts to a more serious tone in the film’s third act, especially after the flipped gender imbalance aspect.
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“Yes, it’s an older woman and a younger man,” De Leon said. “It’s easy for people to think it’s some kind of joke, or feel uncomfortable or disgusting, so it’s important to convince the audience that Carl is the type of person who is drawn to power. It’s power, more than anything else, that turns him on. I think in Ah Adding a sexy element to the power that Gail has so that it makes more sense in the story. Cal stays with her as a survival tactic, but he actually finds her power sexy as well.”
In the scene above, Abigail and Carl discuss the dynamics of their relationship, and whether he should break up with his fashion model girlfriend (played in the film by Charlby Dean, who died suddenly of illness last August). For director Östlund’s interpretation of the movie’s ending question mark, Click here.
“The Triangle of Sorrow” (the title comes from the furrow that forms a triangle between the eyebrows) is in theaters and available for rent through the streaming platform.