As in most Ruben Östlund films, the central theme will relate to group behaviour and dynamics, and social class hierarchy.

Set against the backdrop of the fashion world and jet set society, Triangle of Sadness could be Ruben Östlund’s most commercial film to date, according to the Swedish director’s long-term production partner Erik Hemmendorff of Plattform Production.

“The film will be entirely shot in English, with a relatively straightforward narrative structure like Force Majeure’ he told nordicfilmandtvnews.com. “It will be another satirical look at us human beings, at the same time incisive, funny and warm.”

According to Hemmendorff, the film is about ‘the connection between economics and looks’. The main character is a male model whose career is going downhill. Together with a female model friend, also hoping to reinvent herself, he accepts to do a shoot on a luxury boat, a haunt for rich and famous, run by a Marxist captain. The latter has very mixed feelings about his job but sticks to it to pay his mortgage. Following an incident, a group of passengers - including a Filipino cleaning lady - find themselves stranded on a deserted island, where everyone’s role gets mixed up, and the social pyramid is turned upside down.

For Hemmendorff, the title Triangle of Sadness refers to a term used in plastic surgery, but it also hints at the triangle man, woman and economics. Östlund who will finalise his script by the end of this summer, has taken inspiration from true stories told by his girlfriend, a fashion photographer. “The fashion world is quite fascinating,” says Hemmendorff. “Thanks to your looks, from one day to the next you can be turned into a supermodel and rise the social ladder, without any specific skill. It’s equalitarian in that sense, but also deceiving.”

Regarding the casting, the producer said it would involve the same process as for The Square, with screen tests first in Sweden, then in the rest of Scandinavia and around the world. “We hope to make amazing discoveries, like with Claes Bang [Christian in The Square]. He was clearly the very best for his part,” he notes.

Thanks to the global success of the 2017 Palme d’or winning film that sold more than two million tickets worldwide (twice Force Majeure’s results), Hemmendorff says he has already received various offers from financial partners. “Ruben and I have built our company and his career step by step, thanks to a network of dedicated European distributors and financiers. The success with Force Majeure and The Square have opened up a market of new partners and new ways of financing that is very interesting. Ultimately, we will as always make our decisions based on the money we need for each specific project, and the type of partners who are with us in the long run and really believe in our project.”

Triangle of Sadness is scheduled to start shooting in 2019.