Movie Review – Triangle (2009)

I knew nothing about 2009’s Triangle, a film by Christopher Smith, before watching it, and I must say that that is probably the best way to approach this movie. If you plan to watch it, don’t even watch a trailer, as it gives too much away. Triangle is a mind-twisting mystery which smartly employs both supernatural and slasher elements while never venturing too far into either subgenre. Each time I expected the movie to take a turn for the worse, it only became more interesting.

Triangle is about a group who board a seemingly deserted cruise vessel after their yacht is capsized by a freak storm. To say any more about the plot would be giving too much away, making this review torturous to write as this is the kind of movie you want to share with others and discuss.

Melissa George in Triangle.
Melissa George in Triangle.

The script is tight and intelligent – don’t blink or you may miss something – and supposedly took two years to write. The casting is great and the cinematography beautiful, filled with appealing, vibrant colors. The direction reveals an expert storyteller on the rise in the mold of Christopher Nolan, who similarly messed with our sense of time and perspective in films like Memento (2000). Smith’s love of the horror genre is apparent as Triangle conveys a veiled homage to Kubrick’s masterpiece, The Shining (1980). Additionally, Melissa George ties the film together in a terrific lead performance, playing a distraught mother trying to get back home to her son.

For fans of shows like The Twilight Zone, who like to bend their minds to wrap around an unfurling mystery, I recommend Triangle most highly.

Grade: B