The Square

In Stockholm, the X-Royal is a modern art gallery, formerly the royal palace, now home to conceptual works like the installation "Mirrors and Piles of Gravel" - stuff at that cutting edge of modern art which is on the knife's edge between self-parody and solemnity. The curator is Christian, a guy who proclaims the social importance of art. But over the following weeks, he repeatedly gets involved in situations that suggest his social conscience may be no more than skin deep.

In some ways this feels almost like a sketch movie - it's a film that works in fits and starts rather than necessarily building up momentum throughout. Claes Bang as Christian is a solid mildly bewildered lead, taking the situations as they come. Elizabeth Moss as the journalist who interviews him and who drifts into a brief fling with him is perfectly fine, though her scenes feel peculiarly detached from the rest of the film. Indeed, the entire film suffers a bit from improvised-itis, where everything is just that little too loose and undirected - while there are standout moments, there's a lot of repetition of points and wandering about in the mix as well.

The standout scene that is highlighted on the poster and features motion-capture performer Terry Notary, is indeed rather spectacular,but it's also another dead end. It's usually pretty watchable dead ends but ... as a social satire on the smugness of the art world and those who participate in it, it lacks precision. And satire, for me, needs to work like a scalpel - precise, fast and effective  - not loose and vague.