I can’t talk TOO much about this without spoiling it – in this case, it’s very much recommended to go in totally blind, which I did, aside from knowing that it was something of a mindbender and had some horror and possibly sci-fi elements.
It all hinges on a young woman on a yachting trip with some acquaintances who ends up in some very unusual, confusing, and horrifying circumstances. It kept me guessing and trying to figure out what was really going on throughout, and it did a good job of laying clues and following up on them later. Every time I thought I had a handle on it (and thought the lead character did, too), it turned out to have another layer.
There are some very memorable individual shots (the most devastating involves Sally – people who’ve seen it will know what I mean), and a lot of genuinely creepy atmosphere. Abandoned old luxury ships for the win. The mystery was ultimately grounded in an emotional crisis, too, and that’s a strong foundation for me when mindbenders threaten to become too clever and cerebral.
I will say I wasn’t totally sure how a few of the elements fit into the final explanation, but it left far fewer holes than you’d expect for a film like this. It’s really quite tight.
Stats and stuff…
2009, UK/Australia
written and directed by Christopher Smith
starring Melissa George, Michael Dorman, Liam Hemsworth, Henry Nixon, Rachael Carpani, Emma Lung
I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how Triangle entered my chart:
Triangle > Sylvia Scarlett
Triangle < The Shining
Triangle > The Three Caballeros
Triangle > The Dark Knight Rises
Triangle > Take Shelter
Triangle > Rango
Triangle < The Miracle Woman
Triangle < Fantastic Mr Fox
Triangle < The Breaking Point
Triangle < Why We Fight: Prelude to War
Triangle < 21 Grams
Triangle > Funny Face
Final #988 out of 3719 (73%)
It is now my #1 Christopher Smith film, my #1 Melissa George film, my #30 Mindbender, my #51 Psychological Thriller, my #5 Supernatural Thriller, and my #27 film of 2009.
Triangle was recommended by Nathan Chase, a friend and co-founder of Flickchart.com.
A few more screenshots…
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