Can a film about an art museum expose the hypocrisy of the cultural elite?
In short: Ruben Östlund’s 2017 Palme d’Or winner, The Square, follows a museum curator whose life unravels after a confidence trick. By blending satire with uncomfortable social dilemmas, the film challenges the viewer’s perceptions of trust, masculinity, and privilege, ultimately questioning the performative nature of morality in supposedly liberal, modern societies.
The Square centers on Christian, a curator at Stockholm’s X-Royal museum, who finds himself trapped in a series of escalating ethical failures. After his phone and wallet are stolen in a street scam, his attempt to retrieve them via an anonymous, threatening letter triggers a confrontation with a young boy, leading to a desperate, guilt-ridden spiral. These personal crises unfold against the backdrop of a high-stakes marketing campaign for a new art installation, also titled The Square, which is intended to be a sanctuary of trust and equality. However, when the museum’s advertising agency releases a provocative, violent promotional video that Christian approves without viewing, the resulting public backlash forces him to confront the gap between his professional ideals and his actual conduct.
Director Ruben Östlund, who conceived the story alongside producer Kalle Boman, crafted the film to force characters into impossible dilemmas. The production was heavily influenced by real-life incidents, including a street robbery Östlund experienced in Gothenburg and a performance art piece by Oleg Kulik, which inspired the film’s infamous scene where a performer mimics an ape at a black-tie dinner. To achieve the desired tone, Östlund employed rigorous methods, often shooting up to 50 takes per scene and requiring actors like Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West to adapt to his specific, improvisational style of Swedish direction.
Critical reception was largely positive, with the film earning an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While some critics, such as those at Sight & Sound, praised the dinner sequence as a tour de force, others like A.O. Scott found the film’s critique of the cultural elite to be ostentatious and ultimately complacent. Despite these varied interpretations, the film’s impact was undeniable; it won the Palme d'Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, with jury president Pedro Almodóvar noting its depiction of the 'dictatorship of being politically correct.' By the end of its run, the $5.5 million production had grossed $8.5 million worldwide, cementing its status as a polarizing but essential examination of contemporary social hypocrisy.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Square (2017 film)
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