Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

eddie_baggins Winning last year's Canne's Film Festival coveted Palme d'Or prize and Oscar and Golden Globe nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's awards season, Ruben Östlund's Swedish set The Square certainly comes to home release with some prestige attached to it but this bum-numbing epic that acts as a darkly humorous expose of modern art culture and more broadly an examination of humankind in general, is the type of film that will split viewers down the middle in regards to love and hate.Following on from his critically acclaimed Force Majeure from 2014, Östlund continues on with his slowly paced and methodical way of story-telling as we here follow Claes Bang's art gallery curator Christian through what feels like a collection of mini-films within the larger whole as the all of a sudden under duress big-shot finds his life hitting a few roadblocks in the lead up to his gallery's opening of an exhibition known as The Square.It's a seemingly simplistic set-up but Östlund's execution is anything but, as Christian's journey entails awkward romantic encounters with Elizabeth Moss's American Anne, a crayon carrying chimp, an extremely abnormal dinner function, an angry child and a viral video that is a catalyst to much of Christian's woes.These occurrences all add up to a whole that combines to create an almost unnerving atmosphere and tone but they don't gel to create a cohesive narrative that feels all that apparent and while many will find messages and themes that are possibly there and possibly not there, it feels like The Square squanders some chances to be a genuinely effective dark comedy/expose as it gets lost in an abundance of over-long and over-wrought scenes that needed a much tighter edit.One aspect of the film that can't be faulted however is Östlund's cast commitment to the cause with everyone giving it their all, with Bang and Moss in particular impressing in their roles, while the films few definitively laugh out loud scenes such as disrupted Q and A and the aforementioned dinner feel like scenes out of a much more well-rounded and engaging film.Final Say - An over-long and overall bloated arthouse offering, The Square has some nice ideas and potentially relevant messages but it's hard for them too shine through when the film around them is such a hard slog to endure.2 viral videos out of 5

StrictlyConfidential Shame! Shame! Shame! on "The Square" for its incessantly gabby bullshit and for the guilt-trip that it tried to lay on any viewer who wasn't a homeless person.Being a non-homeless person, myself - I lived in Vancouver's Strathcona neighborhood for a number of years (which is right next door to Skid-Row Capital) - And, at that time, I saw 2 beautiful buildings go up in that area that were specifically meant to house the homeless.Well - Within 6 months both of these buildings were an utter mess of litter, filth, and excrement. And the reason why this was so was because the homeless don't give a damn about anything, and they don't respect anything, or anybody.These people, who are always screaming for their rights, want the rest of society to always be cleaning up after them and always taking care of them. They refuse to take responsibility for anything in their lives (though they are quite capable of doing so).And, so - With that in mind - I refuse to have some narrow-minded, little movie, like "The Square", lay its bullshit guilt-trip on me.

bdan35 More of a collection of social scenario skits, reminiscent of Portlandia, than a coherent story.

seriouscritic-42569 A clever, and insightful, but somewhat meandering, social satire that, in hindsight, feels more like a series of vignettes loosely connected by the films protagonist, a well-known museum curator. The satirical sections that focus on the Modern Art world are dead on, although with, perhaps too much restraint. For the most part they are so understated you might find yourself wondering if the filmmakers were intentionally being satiric; except for, obviously, the film's high-point "Welcome to the Jungle" - both its most humorous and chilling sequence - which literally has a punchline at the end. It could easily be argued the film is worth watching for this section alone. Primarily concerned with how individuals interact with society and the world around them, scenes often play out with the camera focused on one character's reaction as opposed to the action, or conversation, occurring off-screen. This can be a disorienting choice, and, at times, confusing, yet undoubtedly all that is intentional. But be warned, the film will make no attempt to tie up all its lose ends: some characters just drop out of sight, storylines are left dangling and the movie just comes to a stop as opposed to having a real climax. You can be left feeling poked and prodded by the film for having watched it, as opposed to rewarded. But, hey, it's Art.