Don’t Be A *Draws Rectangle With Hands* And Check Out The Square Trailer

Ruben Ostlund as a director is an interesting, and relevant voice in 2017. His flick Force Majeure from 2014 is a film that is heavily inspired by viral videos, despite its art house approach not making that entirely obvious. Ostlund has good grasp on the human condition, through the current lens of self obsession (as we can see through this video), so it has been with great interest that I have been waiting for his newest film The Square.

After watching the trailer, it is certainly hard to say what the film is actually about, aside from the setting being a progressive art gallery. While the titular square is mentioned, it isn’t explained at all what it is, and why it might fit into this progressive art gallery. Not getting a grip on what the film is about, to me, is a huge plus for the trailer. There is enough here to get a viewer intrigued, and the way that the trailer is split up, with the opening dry humour, into Genesis by Justice certainly works for this trailer. I must write that I am extremely interested in seeing the gorilla performance art scene, which I have been intrigued about ever since I saw a still image from that scene.

The only knock that I have against this trailer is the use of critic blurbs to really drum up business for the film. These critic blurbs are selling the world, and I honestly get very concerned when I see USA Today going all “there has never been a Palme D’or winner quite like this” on the film, simply because there is no way that the film can live up to that kind of hype…though what if it does.

In summation, Magnolia put out a very strong trailer for The Square, that did a fine job at not ruining the film, and getting me excited for the movie when it drops October 27th stateside.