Film Review: Triangle (Spoilers)

Is it a murder mystery? Is it ‘Ghost Ship’ done right? Is it something else entirely? ‘Triangle”s director Christopher Smith (of the excellent ‘Creep’) does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes for most of the running time, tantalising you with ‘Memento’-esque time jumps, always hinting something more is going on, but never quite telling you exactly what. Single mother Melissa George joins a bunch of new friends on a sailing trip, but her listless behaviour makes them wonder what’s going on. When a freak storm arrives out of nowhere and capsizes the boat, killing one of their number and leaving them adrift on the wreck, matters become serious – enter the Aeolus, also out of nowhere. Its mysterious captain picks them up, ostensibly rescuing them – so who starts shooting them dead, and why? And why does it look as though everything has happened before?

It’s a very clever mind-bender – George finds out she’s doing the killing, or at least versions of her are. Are the friends caught in a time loop? Is an evil force hunting them down? Or is this a parable about a woman’s descent into madness? The acting by newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Rachel Carpani, Emma Lung, Michael Dorman and particularly George, is top-notch – everyone comes across as so normal, how could any of them be anything other than what they seem? Their rescue is infinitely repeated, whilst George keeps on killing, eventually realising the only way out of the cycle is for everyone including her to die. And that’s where the real horror sets in – Smith doesn’t ever come out and tell you exactly what’s been going on, but hints very strongly at just what tragedy and horror might drive George to punish herself for eternity. Rather than some eerie Bermuda Triangle effect, he suggests something much more creative entirely is going on. As many reviewers have noted already, ‘Triangle’ could easily fit as an episode of the ‘Twilight Zone’, and it’s an honest, if uncomfortable piece of work, which is leaps and bounds better than most horror out there now.

8/10

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