# Force Majeure Avalanche Force Majeure Avalanche is a clip from Ruben Östlund's 2014 film, in which a father calls the oncoming avalanche safe seconds before fog engulfs the restaurant and diners panic. It went viral on Twitter in June 2019 after user @zama_mdluli paired it with a procrastination caption, and within a week posters were using the format for climate denial jokes and Brexit takes. ## Origin Force Majeure premiered at the 67th Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard on May 18, 2014, directed by Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund[1]. In the avalanche sequence, a family eating on the deck of an Alpine restaurant watches a wall of snow approach while the father tells them it is a controlled slide. Fog then engulfs the restaurant and the diners scramble. A YouTube upload of the scene[7] circulated in film circles for years before Twitter users turned it into a reaction clip in 2019. - **Platform:** Film (2014) / Twitter (viral spread 2019) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2019 ## Overview Posts in this format pair the clip with a caption naming a looming disaster the poster is ignoring or downplaying, with the father's unruffled 'controlled avalanche' line standing in for denial or procrastination[2]. Captions include personal takes like a tweet about putting off assignments[6] and political ones like Ziwe Fumudoh's line about American climate response[3]. The humor sits in the beat between the father's confident posture and the fog that erases everyone two seconds later. Film fans noted the meme crops out the scene's point: the fog is harmless aerosol in the movie, and the father's instinct to flee before his family drives the plot[8]. ## How to Use Posters typically caption the clip with a line that names a looming disaster they are dismissing, ignoring, or putting off. Common uses include climate change takes, political crises like Brexit, and workplace or deadline anxiety. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Force Majeure Avalanche? Force Majeure Avalanche is a video meme from Ruben Östlund's 2014 film, where a father dismisses an oncoming avalanche as safe seconds before fog engulfs the restaurant[2]. ### Where did Force Majeure Avalanche come from? The scene is from the 2014 film Force Majeure, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2014[1]. Twitter user @zama_mdluli posted the first viral meme version on June 4, 2019[2]. ### What does Force Majeure Avalanche mean? It usually stands in for denial or procrastination, with the father's calm reaction pointing to doing nothing while a disaster approaches[3]. ### How do you use Force Majeure Avalanche? Posters typically caption the clip with a line naming a looming disaster they are dismissing or avoiding, from climate change jokes to deadline anxiety[4]. ### Is Force Majeure Avalanche still popular? The format peaked in June 2019, with Ziwe Fumudoh's climate version alone passing 140,000 likes[3]. Current viral use has not been documented[8]. ## References 1. [https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/article/60533.html]() 2. [https://x.com/i/status/1135879196608204800]() 3. [https://x.com/i/status/1136256432326750208]() 4. [https://x.com/i/status/1136604139029274625]() 5. [https://x.com/i/status/1135998600020779008]() 6. [https://x.com/i/status/1135974657004167169]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saNvY4tD3wA]() 8. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/force-majeure-avalanche]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/force-majeure-avalanche Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library