The Square(2017)
dir. Ruben Östlund
A museum preaches empathy and can't practice it.
Where to watch: Subscription: Prime Video; Magnolia Selects Amazon channel. Free: Roku Channel (ads), Fandango at Home Free (ads), Kanopy, Hoopla. Rent $2.99-3.99 Amazon/Fandango/Apple TV (JustWatch US, checked 2026-11-13). Verify.Letterboxd ↗
Christian is the curator of a Stockholm museum who is about to open an exhibit called The Square, a patch of ground where everyone is meant to be equal and caring. Then his phone is stolen, he writes a note that backfires on a poor neighborhood, and the museum's viral campaign goes wrong. Östlund's satire follows a man who believes in empathy as an idea and keeps failing it in person.
Why it’s here
It's a film about how easy it is to love humanity in the abstract. What's punk is the aim at the art world, charity and the class that runs them, with a banquet scene that is hard to forget. What's pedagogical is the gap it exposes between what we say we value and what we do when it costs us, a good prompt for older teens and adults. Note: R-rated; long, uncomfortable, some nudity and a prolonged performance-art scene in which the guests are menaced; the film is a Palme d'Or winner. The production drew criticism for how the banquet scene treated its extras. Swedish and English with subtitles.
Where This Film Lives
- Setting
- Sweden • Scandinavia
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