Some of the reviewers of this movie seem angry because this isn't their style of comedy. To each, their own. Personally, I enjoyed this a lot because it was so unpredictable. It's a dry black comedy, full of uncomfortable situations. Our protagonist is a man named Christian who has reached the top of the art world in Sweden, as head curator of a very prestigious art gallery in Stockholm. Despite his high position, he's a mess... acting recklessly, needlessly damaging his own career and personal life. Early in the film, he appears to be a victim of a scam. In response, he goes about tackling the scam in such an incompetent way that he ends up making a further mess. Beyond the shenanigans of Christian, this is also a satire of the upper crust of the art world. I'm not a member of that world, but I could appreciate some of the jokes. Some of the targets include (1) incomprehensible art-writing, (2) the aggrandisement of poorly-made art which pretends to be socially conscious, (3) the desire to be provocative for its own sake, and (4) the vacuity of performance art. In regards to performance art, there is an incredible sequence where a man (very accurately) behaves like a chimpanzee during a prestigious banquet. That sequence alone is worth the price of admission. Indeed, I believe this whole film is a piece of performance art. It's not just a satire and a comedy about a loser, but I think the filmmaker is deliberately messing with the audience. We want our protagonist to be a hero and he isn't. We want the mystery to be solved, but it isn't. We want the film to make sense, but it doesn't! Perhaps there's a lot of deeper meanings that I missed, but that's why I'll watch it again.
Review of The Square
