Later, Christian is pulled into a confrontation at a pedestrian zone, after which he notices that his smartphone and wallet are missing, along with his cufflinks, presumably stolen in a confidence trick.

In the store, Michael is confronted by a young Arab boy who states that his parents believe that he is a thief because of the letter and demands that Christian apologizes to him and his family.

The advertising agency commissioned by the museum to promote The Square states that they need to harness social media attention with something other than the uncontroversial and bland artist's statement.

The clip goes viral, quickly reaching 300,000 YouTube views, but receives an extremely hostile response from the media, religious leaders and the general public.

The museum arranges a press conference, where Christian states he violated protocol and is stepping down as curator in mutual agreement with the board.

The story for the film was conceived when director Ruben Östlund and producer Kalle Boman entered an installation into the Vandalorum Museum in Värnamo in 2014.

Östlund said this was inspired by a true incident at a Swedish theatre, and was depicted without fear of insensitivity, since he said all people are satirized in his work.

The scene was inspired by a real incident where artist Oleg Kulik, who performs as a dog, had attacked people at an event in Stockholm.

Östlund was considering modeling the character after GG Allin, but deciding that that would be too "extreme", he fell back on his interest in animal imitations.

[16] Much of the art depicted was crafted for the film, with installations influenced by Robert Smithson, an authentic Garry Winogrand image, and another work by Östlund and Kalle Boman.

[20] As preparation for the role of Christian, Bang made an in-depth interview with Daniel Birnbaum, the director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

[22] After assembling much of his cast in auditions around the Nordic countries, Östlund, mindful of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment's desire for him to make an English-language film, contacted BAFTA in London.

This led to Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West joining the cast,[12] although Östlund also held early conversations with Michelle Williams[23] and Sacha Baron Cohen.

[39][40] Before the film screened at Cannes, distribution rights were sold for releases in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other European countries.

[4][5] I'm interested in creating dilemmas for the characters in my films... situations where there are two or more opportunities and none of them are easy — Ruben Östlund[45]At Cannes, critical reception was largely positive,[46][47] though it was not expected to win the Palme d'Or.

[51] Robbie Collin gave it four stars in The Daily Telegraph, finding the first hour cleverly satirical, and a later scene horrific.

[52] Conversely, IndieWire critic Eric Kohn was disappointed by its over-indulgence and lack of structure, calling it "a Pollock canvas of weird ideas tossed at the audience in search of a singular narrative, some of which stick better than others.

Scott found a familiar theme of "the bad conscience of the cultural elite", concluding that The Square was "ostentatiously smart, maybe too much so for its own good, but ultimately complacent, craven and clueless".

[55] Peter Travers gave it three stars, finding enjoyment and some influence from the Marx Brothers, and satire so effective that "it always hurts when you laugh".

[57] Glenn Kenny for RogerEbert.com wrote: "The conceptual-fish-in-a-barrel potshots at contemporary art alternate with an ostensible critique of masculinity and privilege, building to a climax that endorses a compassion that’s mealy-mouthed and insufficient".

[60] The Globe and Mail critic Barry Hertz wrote The Square is "a sharp art-world satire" before becoming "something egregiously bonkers".

[62] Vice reviewer Rod Bastanmehr hailed it as a timely satire taking aim at contemporary art patrons.

The website's critical consensus reads: "The Square finds writer-director Ruben Östlund as ambitious as ever — and delivering an unforgettably unusual work whose challenging themes pay thought-provoking dividends.