Just when you think you know what's coming, writer and director Christopher Smith grabs the plot and distorts it to such a level that you begin to find yourself watching a clever psychological thriller with more twists and turns than a complicated road system.
It is also thanks to actress Melissa George's fabulous acting that you believe every step of this journey of madness. I am not often so overwhelmed by a film, but Triangle is, in my opinion, a must-see! So why is it such a success?
George plays Jess, a young woman and single mother who is quite clearly failing to cope with her autistic son, played so wonderfully here by Joshua McIvor. We next see her agreeing to join some friends on a boat trip. However, there is a sinister electrical storm and the group is capsized. So when they are rescued by an ocean liner everything turns out to be OK, right? Wrong!
In a cross between Dead Calm and The Twilight Zone, we, the viewers, are taken on a journey of our own through the corridors of the liner and director Smith's manipulative mind. Something, or someone, is stalking the survivors, and before long there is the twist that'll have you whooping and gripped! They are not alone and the villain is...
... oh my god - not so straight forward!
It is amazing to see how far George has come since her days as Angel Parish in Australian soap opera Home And Away - she has appeared in both The Amityville Horror remake (2005) and vampire horror 30 Days of Night (2007), yet she is no scream queen and there is absolutely no danger of this talented actress being typecast by such parts!
Triangle is both intense and emotional, you really want George's character to find a way out of this nightmarish world, and return to her son, unharmed both physically and psychologically.
But as the insane scenario develops we come to realise that you just cannot out-think destiny, or you'll go mad trying! How many times have we watched those poor helpless victims in Final Destination think they've out-guessed Death, only to die in a neat and unpredictable way?
Except, for Jess, it isn't a matter of dying, as you'll discover. There is more agony in mental torture than there is in the last moments of life - the dead are rewarded with peace of mind, at some point.
Jess is not!
Review summary
One of the finest psychological horror films ever produced, brought together with such skill that the plot will keep you guessing. Melissa George at her best. Highly recommended! Triangle written by Christopher Smith
