Director: Christopher Smith
Cast: Melissa George, Michael Dorman, Rachel Carpani, Henry Nixon, Emma Lung, Liam Hemsworth
Screenplay: Christopher Smith
99 mins. Rated R for violence and language.

Movies about time loops have been all the rage lately, but let’s not forget that they’ve regular appeared in time in one form or another, most notably back in the 90s with Groundhog Day. In 2009, we would see a more pessimistic viewpoint with Triangle, a movie that didn’t make much of a splash upon release, but thanks to the miracle of streaming, it’s become quite accessible and much more well-regarded.

When Greg (Michael Dorman, The Invisible Man) hosts a get-together on his sailing yacht, he invites a few notable friends and a young woman he’s been pursuing, Jess (Melissa George, Mulholland Drive). When Jess arrives, there is something noticeably wrong with her, but they cannot discover what is behind her emotionless expression. When they end up in a spot of weather, the yacht is destroyed, and their only rescue lies with an incoming ship, but they quickly discover that no one is left aboard. Soon after, Jess begins experiencing a strange phenomenon as events starts repeating all around her.

Writer/director Christopher Smith (Severance) has infused a number of interesting ideas and symbols into a traditional tale of repeating time. The idea of a curse inflicted by the killing of a sea bird and the possibility that Jess may actually be experiencing a purgatorial prison aboard the ship are rather compelling, further enhanced by the mythical tale of Sisyphus as a context for the world of the ship.

Smith’s screenplay establishes the rules quickly once Jess and the others get on board. That being said, there’s at least one moment that notably breaks those rules, which did take me out of the narrative. These types of films are tough because the rules can become so intricate and breaking them once established can be damaging.

Triangle shares a number of plot points and elements with another time loop film from just a few years earlier in Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes, with the earlier film being a lot more dynamic. Only in seeing the two films relatively back-to-back does it become clear what Triangle is missing: style and attitude, two things that Timecrimes have in abundance. It is difficult to become too invested in Triangle because so few of the characters are likable or interesting that following them can be a bit dull at times. Don’t get me wrong, Melissa George is doing the best she can with the material, but there isn’t much to elevate her character in the screenplay.

Triangle is entertaining and twisty, even if there are similar films that are more stylistically pleasing. Though it lacks some style and it disobeys a few rules, I still found myself engaged throughout, likely due to its fable-like structure infusing the film with some captivating symbols and themes.

3/5
-Kyle A. Goethe