Triangle of Sadness (2022)

We meet a male model and his model girlfriend having dinner at a swanky restaurant and an argument starts between them over paying the bill; from there this dry comedy moves aboard a ship offering cruises to the rich and famous and hell breaks loose there, too, offering more sharp commentary about privilege and control in a modern world of poor freeloaders, rich hoarders, those in service and those who wantonly wield power.

★★★★☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEW

The Dinner (2017)

In a fancy restaurant, a multi-course degustation delivered to tables by convoys of sleek, choreographed waitstaff is this movie's metaphor for a smooth, controlled passage or course through things, from A to B, and the dinner guests at one particular table - a politician, his second wife, his brother and sister-in-law - are the antithesis, an uncooperative, distracted, disparate group gathered to decide on their best course now that their teenaged sons have committed a despicable crime, in this frustrating film which tries to be both profound and farcical while it grapples with themes as wide-ranging as politics, American Civil War history, teenage bullying, adolescent crime, racism, parenting, sibling rivalry, familial secrets, and mental illness, all with a sassy, isn't-this-so-so-clever attitude.

★☆☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS