Directing

Ruben Östlund

Born April 13, 1974 · Styrsö, Gothenburg, Sweden (age 52)

Ruben Östlund (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrʉːbɛnˈœstlɵnd]) (born April 13 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his satirical black comedy films Force Majeure (2014), The Square(2017) and Triangle of Sadness (2022). He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Palmes d'Or, four European Film Awards and nominations for three Academy Awards. Östlund was born in Styrsö, Gothenburg, Sw…

Known For

Triangle of Sadness

Triangle of Sadness · 2022

Triangle of Sadness

MovieComedyDrama

A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.

Beau Is Afraid

Beau Is Afraid · 2023

MovieComedyAdventure

Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic odyssey back home.

Force Majeure

Force Majeure · 2014

While holidaying in the French Alps, a Swedish family deals with acts of cowardliness as an avalanche breaks out.

The Square

The Square · 2017

A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.

Downhill

Downhill · 2020

MovieDramaComedy

Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.

Involuntary

Involuntary · 2008

MovieComedyDrama

In several unrelated stories, the consequences of putting one's foot down – or failing to do so – are explored.

The Entertainment System Is Down

The Entertainment System Is Down

The Entertainment System Is Down

MovieDramaComedy

Set on a long-haul flight where the entertainment systems fail, an eclectic group of international passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored.

Play

MovieDramaCrime

In central Gothenburg, Sweden, a group of boys, aged 12-14, robbed other children on about 40 occasions between 2006 and 2008. The thieves used an elaborate scheme called the 'little brother number' or 'brother trick', involving advanced role-play and gang rhetoric rather than physical violence.

Filmography

Sort

Triangle of Sadness

Triangle of Sadness · 2022

Triangle of Sadness

MovieComedyDrama

A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.

Editor

Beau Is Afraid

Beau Is Afraid · 2023

MovieComedyAdventure

Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic odyssey back home.

Thanks

Force Majeure

Force Majeure · 2014

While holidaying in the French Alps, a Swedish family deals with acts of cowardliness as an avalanche breaks out.

Editor

The Square

The Square · 2017

A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.

Director

Downhill

Downhill · 2020

MovieDramaComedy

Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.

Executive Producer

Involuntary

Involuntary · 2008

MovieComedyDrama

In several unrelated stories, the consequences of putting one's foot down – or failing to do so – are explored.

Director

The Entertainment System Is Down

The Entertainment System Is Down

The Entertainment System Is Down

MovieDramaComedy

Set on a long-haul flight where the entertainment systems fail, an eclectic group of international passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored.

Director

Play

MovieDramaCrime

In central Gothenburg, Sweden, a group of boys, aged 12-14, robbed other children on about 40 occasions between 2006 and 2008. The thieves used an elaborate scheme called the 'little brother number' or 'brother trick', involving advanced role-play and gang rhetoric rather than physical violence.

Director

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine · 2023

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine

MovieDocumentary

From the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity's unique obsession with the camera's image and the social consequences that lay ahead.

Executive Producer

Irmelin

Irmelin · 2003

Irmelin is 9 years old and loves to play football, but there is no girl team in the countryside where she lives. Therefore she can play with the guys. One day it will have consequences.

Director of Photography

Iris Berben - Ein persönliches Porträt

Iris Berben - Ein persönliches Porträt · 2024

Iris Berben - Ein persönliches Porträt

MovieDocumentary

She is the grande dame of German and international cinema, always a bit of a rocker chick, freedom-loving, adventurous and willing to take risks. This portrait unfolds Iris Berben's career, which has spanned more than five decades - between the art of film and television, between rock 'n' roll and political commitment.

Ten Meter Tower

Ten Meter Tower · 2016

Ten Meter Tower

MovieDocumentary

10 Meter Tower is a short film taking place in a swimming pool with 6 cameras aimed at the tallest diving tower. All focus is on the 43 people between 9 and 78 years old. They have one thing in common, this is the first time in their lives they climb up to the platform to make the decision whether to jump or not. The situation itself highlights a dilemma: to weigh the instinctive fear of taking the step out against the humiliation of having to climb down.

Art Department Production Assistant

Life and Other Problems

Life and Other Problems · 2024

Life and Other Problems

MovieDocumentary

The meaning of life, death and everything else? The possible answers are plenty in Max Kestner's adventurous film, which starts when the death of a giraffe at the Copenhagen Zoo goes viral from Hollywood to Chechnya.

Executive Producer

Redoubt

Redoubt · 2026

MovieDramaHistory

Affected by the powerful images in the pamphlet Om kriget kommer (If war comes), farmhand Karl-Göran Persson begins fortifying his house. Through years of harvesting scrap-metal, he transforms the house into a fortress, meant to protect him and his neighbors when the enemy attacks. As the task progresses, reality and the threat of future destruction become intertwined, and construction becomes an obsession for the lonely Karl-Göran.

Producer

An Extraordinary Study in Human Degradation

An Extraordinary Study in Human Degradation · 2008

An Extraordinary Study in Human Degradation

MovieDocumentary

Despondent over his lovelife, Swedish director Patrik Eriksson decides to chronicle his existential crisis, with the aid of co-workers, via cell-phone video camera.

Director of Photography

Snow thérapie

Snow thérapie · 2022

MovieComedyDrama

In the mountains, Eva and Thomas witness an avalanche that ultimately turns out to be harmless. She reproaches him for running away while she stayed behind to protect their children.

Original Film Writer

Fight on a Swedish Beach!!

Fight on a Swedish Beach!! · 2016

Fight on a Swedish Beach!!

MovieComedyDrama

A western Swedish beach during high summer. A variety of people come together to socialise and enjoy the heat. A family with children, a watercolour artist, a group of upper middle-aged friends and a bunch of middle school adolescents. The situation that arises will be called Fight on a Swedish Beach on Youtube.

Creative Director

Weekend

Weekend · 2006

Eddy and Ylva have invited Björn and Lene to spend a perfect weekend in their cabin in the woods, but the vacation become disrupted by primitive creatures known as tree-cutters.

Editor

The Guitar Mongoloid

The Guitar Mongoloid · 2004

The Guitar Mongoloid

MovieDramaComedy

A 12-year-old boy making basic punk songs, grown men playing with guns, a neurotic woman with euphoric happiness targeting self destruction – a Swedish everyday life you've never seen before.

Director

Death of a Fantastic Machine

Death of a Fantastic Machine · 2025

Death of a Fantastic Machine

MovieDocumentary

A short film about how economic interests have, throughout history, influenced how we use the camera — from the earliest photographs to today’s algorithms and AI. This visual essay expands on themes from the acclaimed documentary about the history of the camera and our relationship to it, “And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine.”

Production Consultant

Incident by a Bank

Incident by a Bank · 2010

Incident by a Bank

MovieActionComedy

Incident by a bank is a detailed account of a failed bank robbery: A single take where over 90 people perform a meticulous choreography for the camera. The film recreates an actual event that took place in Stockholm in June 2006.

Director

Autobiographical Scene Number 6882

Autobiographical Scene Number 6882 · 2005

Autobiographical Scene Number 6882

A 30-years old man is celebrating Midsummer's eve together with friends on the west coast of Sweden. He makes his friends come and watch as he is going to jump into the sea from a very high bridge.

Director of Photography

Let the Others Deal With Love

Let the Others Deal With Love · 2001

Let the Others Deal With Love

MovieDocumentary

Do you remember when we were in the Alps together? All the lads, like one big family. That's how you were supposed to live. It doesn't have to be harder than that. But suddenly life comes creeping up on you, and with it, the realization that nothing lasts forever.

Director

Family Again

Family Again · 2002

MovieDocumentary

23 years after Ruben Östlund's parents divorce, both his mom and dad are single again. With a child's hope of an entire family, he tries to reconcile them in front of a new outward eye, the camera.

Editor

Babel

Literature talkshow with Jessika Gedin.