I enjoy arthouse films, and I really enjoy films about art. But not when they yield whatever this "movie" was. This film was the guy-in-Starbucks-on-his-macbook-sipping-his-$8-latte-while-checking-his-iPhone X-posting-about-the-horrors-of-capitalism levels of pretentious. I am just in awe at how this passed screenings and people didn't exclaim, "What the hell was that even about?". The first half of the film is amusing, although every single character was unlikable and overbearingly annoying. They all exuded levels of narcissism and superiority that make it really hard to invest in what they were doing. Modern art is hit-or-miss, at best, and all of the "Art" shown in this movie was a huge miss. But you wouldn't know it from the way these talent-less hacks would rave about the most mundane looking pieces that any Renaissance artist was laugh at.Unfortunately, the second half of the film falls of a cliff and nosedives into the jagged rocks below. After a horrible and hilarious cringey live performance, the movie devolves into people looking intently at their phones, making garbled conversation, and just being painfully boring. Seriously, I have seen some boring movies in my time, but this film really takes the cake in that NOTHING OF INTEREST OR ARTISTIC VALUE GOES ON FOR MOST OF IT!!! I' m sorry for the yelling, but in truth, anyone who says that they are "affected" or "touched" by this is delusional, and is simply hoping that others see them the way they see themselves. This movie is made for people that don't enjoy movies themselves, but enjoy talking about movies in a bid to appear intellectual.Overall, I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone. It just isn't special, it isn't that funny, and at 2 hours at 30 minutes, it overstays it's welcome by at least 1 hour and 15 minutes. Don't sit through this and groan in embarrassment for most of it like I did. It's just not worth it.

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

Stage Setting: I'm an American. This movie is 2 1/2 hours long. It is esoteric. It is Scandinavian. American viewers, beware of any Scandinavian movie that is 2 1/2 hours long, that has, as it's synopsis, the word "existential". Scandinavian, 2 1/2 hours long, "existential" - those three values are a guarantee of a supremely boring movie. Having said that, I understand the very true and importnt message of the movie. Limousine liberals often learn the hard way, that it is harder to actually be an ethical liberal, than it is to simply act the part. Great message. However, comma, the way this Message is told, it Is more suited to an ethics class at University; not an expensive seat at a movie theater.

The square touches upon so many aspects of contemporary life - is a hilarious satire of the world of modern art & critics; of political correctedness, diversity & societal inclusion; of public trust and moral dilemmas; of power dynamics in the office; of millennials, social media and viral digital media; of love, gender and parenthood. If you expect a straight storyline, you will be disappointed; the narrative is as inconsistent and fragmented as the human psyche and the societal aspects which it brushes in an unpretentious manner. The highly renowned and controversial dinner scene is perhaps one of the bravest experiments in the genre, and is, undoubtedly, the highlight of the movie. The Square may be considered satirical, bizarre, and hilarious at times - but it would be to misleading to call it a comedy. In fact, any attempt to bracket it within a particular genre would be a mistake. Not only it is not an artsy movie, but on the contrary, it is a superb mockery of elitist art.