Triangle (2009) Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After their boat is overturned, a group of friends are rescued by a cruise ship that seemingly harbors a masked killer.

Review: This movie surprised me a bit, because it starts off slasher-esque but transitions into something deeper. On the surface, this would appear to be nothing more than a masked killer whodunnit situation, however, we quickly discover there are supernatural elements that complicate matters. In fact, it might be fair to say the filmmakers bit off more than they could chew in the grand scheme of things. I do like the general direction "Triangle" takes, but will audiences be pleased with its big twists being spoiled far too early? Let's take a look.

Weirdly enough, this movie and "The Boat" both had the ships named Aeolus. What a bizarre coincidence. Anyway, to quickly summarize things, our main character, Jess, meets up with some friends on a yacht. Shortly after, the yacht is capsized in a storm. A cruise ship passes by and picks up the stranded friends, but no one appears to be aboard. After exploring for a time (and splitting up, of course!), someone wearing a makeshift mask attacks and kills everyone except Jess. In this confusion, it's hard to tell what is happening, yet, Jess is able to turn the tide on the killer and throw them overboard. The end, right? Wrong. Jess then hears the cries of her friends, and herself, coming from the capsized boat. Not sure what is happening, Jess follows her friends around the cruise ship as we learn this is all one big time loop. The masked killer is actually Jess--a future version of her--who thinks the only way to end the time loop is to kill everyone. Uh huh. As the story progresses, we see the normal Jess turn into the killer in effort to get back to her son. Eventually, we have another revelation once Jess manages to get back to land. It's the ol' main character is really evil surprise! God knows I love that soooo much! There is a spin to this at least since Jess has decided to kill her past self and take back over as a changed woman. There's just one problem--the supernatural forces at work lead her to die along with her son. This brings us back to the beginning of the film with Jess somehow cheating death--creating this loop in the first place in order to somehow save her son. Eh, don't think too hard about it.

First let's deal with the positives. I genuinely LOVE when a movie comes full circle! "Triangle" accomplishes this feat quite well and ties up many loose ends scattered throughout the story; the plotting and pacing for the story is tight which impressed me. The main chick, Jess, is played wonderfully by Melissa George. The other actors are serviceable, but Ms. George juggles many personalities and carries everything well. The overall ambiance and story are both great and keep the audience engaged with what will come next. It's hard to adequately explain, but I appreciated the general ideas and concepts presented. I expected a little more, but I'm satisfied with what we got.

As for the negatives, let's go with the predictability. Why, oh why, did they have a character explain the time loop before we even get the appearance of the masked killer? The filmmakers could have kept the plot grounded in the normal world and then sprang the twist. And this allusion to Sisyphus doesn't really work here. It's not that Sisyphus reneged on a deal with death, it's that Sisyphus was punished for thinking he was more clever than the gods, having tricked them more than once in the mythology. The revelation for how Jess got into this time loop is nonsensical with an otherworldly taxi driver. Whaaaat? And why can't Jess escape the situation if she already knows the actions of her other selves? I was actually hoping they'd imply that the friend who drowned was the key to why the loop won't end but nope. I don't know...there is just this hollow feeling to the experience; there is something missing to fully bring things together.

Wrapping things up...the tone, look, and pacing are spot on; the film handles the technical aspects respectably given what looks to be a low budget. Taking the masked killer angle and pulling a switcheroo was a cool change of pace. I did want the explanations to be more meaningful and thought out, however, I can appreciate the effort and understand the vision of the filmmakers. While I do have considerable problems with "Triangle" there is more than enough positives here to warrant an enjoyable view.

Notable Moment: When the one friend stumbles across dozens of her own body; it shows how long the loop has been going on. Cool idea in theory, but, if this is some kind of supernatural time loop, wouldn't all the bodies disappear each time things reset?

Final Rating: 6/10