Östlund’s first foray into English language filmmaking, and his most ambitious project to date -budgeted at €12-13m - is backed among others by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Leading the international cast are UK rising star Harris Dickinson (Maleficient: Mistress of Evil, The King’s Man) and South Africa’s newcomer Charbi Dean (Black Lighting), who play Carl and Yaya, two young models who accept to board a luxury yacht, hoping to reanimate their declining careers. US star Woody Harrelson (True Detective, The Hunger Games) will play the eccentric Marxist captain of the yacht.

The international stellar cast also comprises Sweden’s Henrik Dorsin (Solsidan), Croatia’s Zlatko Buric (Pusher, 1864), Germany’s Iris Berben (Miss Sixty) and Sunnyi Melles (The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch), the Philippines’ Dolly De Leon (Verdict), Denmark’s Vicki Berlin (Anja & Viktor – In Sickness And In Health), and the UK’s Oliver Ford Davies (Star Wars Episode I, II and III).

Key crew members who worked with Östlund on his Palme d’or winning film The Square include cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel, costume designer Sofie Krunegård and production designer Josefin Åsberg.

After the Swedish shoot, filming will continue on a yacht on the Adriatic Sea and in Greece.

Östlund who wrote the original script said: “I was raised with the idea that looks don’t matter, that it is the inside that counts. Even as a child I realised that this was a well-meaning lie.

Through the models, Carl and Yaya, I want to explore the significance of looks in three different environments - in the fashion world, on a luxury yacht amongst billionaires and on a desert island. On the island, a Filipino cleaning lady ends up on top of the hierarchy as she is the only one who knows how to fish. At the same time Carl finds a new way to use his good looks.”

Speaking about his project at a Film i Väst press gathering during the last Cannes Film Festival, Östlund said he first had the idea for the film six years ago, when his wife, a fashion photographer, told him striking stories about the fashion industry, where young models ‘use their beauty as a currency to climb in society’.

His intention with the film is to “reflect on how economy has an influence on our behaviour.” One of the wildest scenes will be set on the yacht, during a stormy night, when ‘people will be throwing up everywhere”. A special set featuring the rocking dining room and furniture will be built at Trollhättan.

Östlund’s sixth feature film is produced by his long-time collaborator Erik Hemmendorff of Plattform Produktion and Philippe Bober at Coproduction Office, also in charge of world sales.

Triangle of Sadness is co-produced by Film i Väst, Essential Films, Co-Production Office, SVT, BBC Films, Arte France Cinéma, ZDF/Arte , with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Danish Film Institute, Eurimages, the BFI, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Hamburg Film Fund and Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The film is produced in collaboration with Heretic, Board Cadre Films, Sovereign Films and Piano Films.

SF Studios will handle distribution in the Nordics in 2021.