English summary

‘Superior satire; unforgettable!’

‘Östlund picks apart Western society with great skill’

This supreme satire exposes what has gone wrong in the art world, and in Western society in general. When his wallet is stolen on the street, the comfortable life of respected museum curator Christian (Claes Bang) is turned completely upside-down. What follows is a series of bad decisions. His museum opens a new art installation, a space with no rules and where anything goes. A PR firm is hired in order to attract visitors; the unorthodox campaign they design goes viral and causes quite a stir. In the meantime, Christian is dealing with an existential crisis, and his life seems to be going ever farther off track.

In his film, director Ruben Östlund spares nothing and no one, and hauls viewers from one hilarious scene to the next. With great skill he picks apart Western society, not by writing us off, but by asking how it can be improved. Even through all of his spot-on gags, he remains hopeful about what art can change – beginning, perhaps, with his own film. 

The Square was awarded the Golden Palm for best film at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. In December, it also landed six European Film Awards: Best Film, Best Comedy, Best Director, Best Actor (Claes Bang), Best Screenwriter (Ruben Östlund) and Best Production Designer (Josefin Asberg)