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Comment RSSTriangle Review
12.10.09 # Review # 47 Comments
Our Triangle Review
Director: Christopher Smith
Starring: Melissa George, Liam Hemsworth, Rachael Carpani
Released: U.K. – 16 October 2009 / U.S. – TBC
The latest offering from director Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance) is a twisty-turny time bending horror set aboard a mysterious cruise liner. Melissa George stars as Jess, a young woman with an autistic son who meets up with her friend Greg to go sailing with a party on his boat. Things take a turn for the worse when an electrical storm hits their ship, smashing it to tinder and leaving them stranded. When a ghostly cruise liner shows up, the group board the apparently deserted vessel, and that’s when things start to get interesting…
What follows is a convoluted series of events that touch on familiar facets of time travel theory and mythology. As in the recent Spanish thriller Timecrimes we are witness to key events several different times, from a slightly different perspective each time, as our heroine tries vainly to alter the tragic events that befall her and her friends.
Having premiered at Frightfest this year, with Timecrimes taking its bow the year before, Smith was at pains to point out that he had come up with the idea four years previously. However Triangle does feel like something of a diet version and shares too much with its Spanish cousin (even down to the “villain” wearing a sack to disguise their features). The inevitable comparisons are a shame because otherwise the film is trying hard to be original and distinctive.
Melissa George has always been an actress I’ve enjoyed watching, and she is very good in this, taking on multiple versions of her character, each slightly different as they’re weighed down by knowledge of what’s to come, and what’s happening. I was particularly impressed with the scenes bookending the movie that take place in her quiet, suburban home. It’s here, as a violent, abusive mother, that she displays the best acting I’ve seen from her, and indeed in any recent horror, with the possible exception of Martyrs.
Triangle contains some great imagery (one scene in particular will stay with you for a while), and benefits from effective sound design, not least the unusually impactful gunshots, all of which adds to the film’s few geniunely scary moments – the woman next to me jumped out of her skin a couple of times.
Overall, Triangle feels like it falls under the weight of its own logic, and at times the timeline and concurrent events don’t make all that much sense. This isn’t for the Final Destination crowd, it’s more interesting and intelligent than that, but it doesn’t quite fulfil its ambition.
Our Rating: B-
Below you can play the Triangle ‘choose your own adventure’ YouTube game. There’s about five minutes of footage -
Leave your own Triangle review in the comments.
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I saw this at frightfest and wasn’t overly impressed. As you say in the review, it smacked too much of Timecrimes, which I thought was much tighter. There were a few points in Triangle where I lost that feeling that it was all fitting together (especially the end made no sense) which never happened in Timecrimes.
Having said that, compared to the glossy Hollywood slashers filling the cinemas at the moment, this probably deserves your money more.
Went to see triangle last night and have to say was a bit disappointed by the ending, however in saying that there was plenty of tense moments where you are trying to figure out what is happening… i also felt there was lots of repeats of one scene to allow the viewer to suss out what has happened, however this was getting quite boring…
This film is very poor, with a crap storyline, crap actors, a mental woman who chases and tries to kill herself. Very boring and predictable. I wish i had saved my money than watching this pile of shite. Send me a refund please. Thankyou
THIS MOVEIE WAS SHOCKINGLY SHIT! I COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER MOVIE IN MY SLEEP, WHY WHY WHY IS THIS SHIT BEING SHOWN?!
Just watched this movie, the idea was good. But that is where it stopped, wasn’t executed well at all, plot lost it’s way several times. Bad acting, not worth the time.
Just watched this movie last night and that it was a brilliant storyline. Was glued from start to finish. Its one thing to leave a comment but its another to leave a bad one just because you can.
I have not seen Timecrimes yet so I cannot compare the resemblances but the movie was enjoyable to watch. I am not an avid moviegoer, however, this is much better than the Final Destination and Saw gore fests they call Horror.
when you come to the end you will be at the begining of the movie. LOOP LOOP LOOP LOOP LOOP. A nice waste of time.
I think the ending was right
It was her trying to save her kid by going back to the boat as she knew it might allow her to return again and stop the accident.
although how that ties in with the beginning is a bit perplexing?
Too repetetive and the timeline just didnt work.
i loved it… though i took time to grasp wat was happening!!!
all in all doesn’t make sense by the end of the movie. If she got back on the boat to bring her son back and it loops back to the beginning as is inferred, then why is she suddenly unaware of what’s going on when she’s back on the boat. Also, very obvious solutions to the loop seem to fly over her head for no reason… such as when she dons the mask and shotgun and prepares to shoot the guy on the balcony, why doesn’t she realize that simply NOT killing anyone would solve the entire issue. The entire movie plays on a good idea, but with more holes in the logic of the plot than I can point out in this short review. I’d say watch it for novelty, but for nothing more.
Tenshi,
She’s totally traumatized by the car accident and the events leading up to it. She’s suffering from selective amnesia?.
And simply not killing anybody on the ship wouldn’t solve the overall problem. As far as she’s concerned she’s stuck in some strange dream world. Killing people in your dreams isn’t illegal or even unethical. And the first person that is killed is killed by accident. So she decides to simply reset the loop by killing everybody so then she can stop them from getting on board the ship when the next cycle begins. It’s obvious to us safe viewers that her plan is still unlikely to work. But we’re not the ones that are desperate, crazy and stuck in some nightmare.
ps – and it’s just a movie..
ALeC,
Zoot your review is the best. Makes most sence about the movie. I myself liked whole movie, only few misstakes, but they didn’t disappoint me so much. Just wondering if she continue taking this time trips over and over again, she just might become soon very old I expect.
I was surprised to read so much negative reviews about such a great movie.
I agree Alec and a very nice review Zoot. Whats wrong with some of you.. loop loop loop? The movie had some great moments for a B – Horror flick. (the lockets and when she crawls over 30 or so girls that are all rotting there – yeesh)
Movies that do anything but be predictable is such a refreshment to the fodder that we have to wade through constantly. You watch as the main actress and the director go on to at least get an opportunity to do some bigger projects in the near future.
-mark
I have never in my life been more aggravated or freakin annoyed with a movie in my life. It does not make any sense whatsoever I am sueing Christopher Smith becuase he obvously sucks at life, fuck this movie, don’t watch it , it doesnt make any sense, HERE IS THE PLOT. Bitch gets on boat, bitch kills people on boat to save son, bitch doesnt knnow why, bitch hits car , bitch and plot starts over? if ur confused its becuase IT DOESNT F*CKING MAKE SENSE!!!! NO minorities just white people wtf? ! what horror movie doesnt have a black guy? if you watch it be prepared do bang your heD ON THE WALL TIL YOU FORGOT WHAT U SAWW