Production company Object & Animal has added Ruben Östlund to its directorial roster for commercial representation spanning the U.S., U.K. and Netherlands. Östlund individually earned two Oscar nominations this year–Best Director and Best Original Screenplay–for Triangle of Sadness, which also received an Academy Award nod for Best Picture.
Östlund is one of a select few directors to have won the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or twice–first for The Square in 2017 and then for Triangle of Sadness in 2022. This year he served as jury president of the Cannes Film Festival.
Beyond Triangle of Sadness and The Square, Östlund's body of work as a writer-director also includes the acclaimed Force Majeure. His filmography reflects a talent to blend dark humor, social commentary and compelling stories.
Östlund’s involvement with Object & Animal will provide clients with the opportunity to tap into the director’s ability to craft narratives that resonate deeply with viewers. Triangle of Sadness, for example, certainly resonated with audiences worldwide. The satire explores universal themes which proved to be relevant and relatable, particularly to younger audiences who are all too aware of the disparity between the haves and have-nots in society. “Younger people are starting to get more into topics such as the environmental crisis, and the economic system running the world and the consequences that has,” observed Östlund during an Oscar season interview with SHOOT.
Triangle of Sadness introduces us to a young couple who are on the ascent as celebrity fashion models–Carl (portrayed by Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean Kriek, a promising actor who tragically died in August 2022 at the age of 32). They are part of the beautiful people culture, which has proven quite lucrative already for them. We get an eyeful of the fashion industry and its sensibilities–or lack thereof–at the outset of the film. Yaya also has the distinction of being a social media influencer with a growing following. As such, they are invited aboard a $250 million yacht for a vacation among the rarefied elite–captains of various industries ranging from tech to agriculture and munitions dealing. And then there’s the ship’s Marxist captain (Woody Harrelson) who adds another dimension to the proceedings, particularly as he engages in a vocal exchange of ideologies with a Russian oligarch (Ziatko Buric) over the ship’s loudspeaker system.
The ship’s crew is instructed to say yes to their passengers’ every whim. However the super rich are taken down several pegs when a major seastorm hits, triggering a flood of vomit, blood and other bodily fluids. Several of the guests and crew end up stranded on a remote island. There an up-to-that-point incidental character, a ship toilet maintenance worker named Abigail (Dolly de Leon), comes into prominence as the only one who has any survival skills. She is able to catch and clean fish, build a fire and brilliantly forage for the group. She thus is elevated to the top of the pecking order, turning the societal hierarchy on its ear. With poignancy, humor and an entertaining engagement, the story brings a new context to the talents we value, the people who are privileged in modern-day society, those who aren’t, and what it all says about our priorities.
“We are incredibly honored to welcome Ruben Östlund to the Object & Animal family,” said Dom Thomas, managing director and co-founder at Object & Animal. “Having been a fan of his work for many, many years, we are beyond excited to finally get to collaborate and bring his extraordinary talent, his razor sharp wit and outrageous sense of humor to an even wider audience. He also has really lovely hair.”
