News & Reviews
Triangle
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Director: Christopher Smith
Starring: Melissa George, Liam Hemsworth, Michael Dorman
British director Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance) has created an atmospheric and intriguing supernatural thriller that ultimately fails to live up to its promise, or its hype.
Jess (Melissa George) is a single mother who goes on a sailing trip with a bunch of friends. Her nagging sense of fear is justified when the group is caught in a freak storm, and forced to take shelter on a passing cruise liner. It seems the ship is deserted, until someone starts to kill them off.
Triangle initially seems like a bog standard, pick-‘em-off one-by-one horror flick, albeit more evocatively shot than most. But when the killer is vanquished very early in the film, things start to get interesting. The story loops back to the beginning, and we watch virtually the same events take place again, from a slightly different perspective.
It becomes apparent that Jess is caught in some sort of time warp, from which she must attempt to escape.
The first hour or so of the film is great: eerie and disturbing, full of The Shining-like spooky corridors, messages written in blood, and dark hints at what is going on.
But sadly, the film becomes tedious: the same events repeat over and over, but very little is added to your appreciation of them. The plot is full of inconsistencies, and the ending – although deliciously chilling – is also rather annoying.
That said, there are some excellent scenes, and one particularly disturbing one will stay with the viewer for a long time.
Focusing mainly on Jess, there is very little dialogue of note in the film, but the actors do a good job of portraying their discomfort and unease on the ship. George puts in a good performance, though it does mainly involve running around and looking by turns vacant, confused and determined.
But when all is said and done, the ambiguity in the film adds up to nothing. The hints at Greek mythology, Sisyphean tasks, death, guilt and schizophrenia combine to create a film that is heavy on atmosphere and creepiness, but light on substance.
Go watch Triangle, because it’s a genuinely interesting film. Just don’t expect to come away feeling satisfied.
Croc rating: 3 / 5