Tubi Tuesday: Triangle (2009)

Melissa George shines in “Triangle” — a twisty thriller that messes with your head in a confounding but genuinely satisfying way.

Imagine you did something you’re not proud of. Maybe it was a simple mistake, or perhaps it was a deliberate act. In either case, it doesn’t align with the person you want to be or how you see yourself. If you had the chance to undo that act, would you try, even if it meant causing further harm? If you’re Jess, the desperate mother at the heart of Christopher Smith’s 2009 thriller Triangle, there may be no other option.

Set in Florida but filmed in Northeast Australia, Triangle stars Melissa George as Jess, a young mother struggling to care for her autistic son Tommy (Joshua McIvor), making ends meet as a diner waitress.

It’s there that she meets Greg (Michael Dorman), a well-to-do guy who takes a shine to her and invites her to an outing on his sailboat along with his friends Downey (Henry Nixon) and Sally (Rachael Carpani) and his teenage mentee/assistant Victor (Liam Hemsworth in his second-ever film role).

Sally also invited her friend Heather (Emma Lung) as a potential match for Greg, though he only seems to have eyes for Jess, much to Sally’s dismay.

It’s all champagne and bikinis until they encounter an unexpected severe storm, capsizing the boat and sending Heather overboard. All hope of rescue seems lost until the sudden appearance of a mysterious, seemingly abandoned ocean liner decked out for a pleasure cruise straight out of the 1930s.

But what seems like salvation quickly becomes more like a trap.

Just when you think you’ve got a sense of where we’re headed, Smith basically gives up the whole game, shifting the movie into a totally different gear.

To elaborate much more would give away one of the film’s central pleasures, but suffice it to say, it’s a pretty nifty trick.

Whereas saving the big reveal until the end would’ve made the movie feel like a gussied-up slasher, Smith is interested in something knottier and more complex: a fable about cause and effect, choices, and consequences.

As is the case with many of these high-concept narratives, the “why” of what’s happening is never really explored. We don’t get a sense of why these particular people have been brought to this particular ship. While that may be frustrating for some, any explanation probably wouldn’t be very satisfying.

It is better to let the audience figure out their own “why” or whether the causes are all that important.

Sadly, as is also often the case with these kinds of things, the movie’s internal logic begins to eat itself after a while.

As the movie wears on, the characters’ actions become harder to justify beyond the requisites of plot mechanics. While the actors do solid work, none of them, besides Jess, ever cohere into anything more than stock types at the mercy of the story rather than lived-in characters.

It feels like the characters exist to serve Smith’s clever narrative structure rather than the other way around.

But rather than try to pick it apart like a hungry seagull, it’s probably best not to overthink it too much and enjoy it for what it is: a twisty little high-concept thriller with a fun hook.

Smith may have had more high-minded aspirations for his film, referencing the myth of Sisyphus and making comparisons to Memento. Still, it functions best as a popcorn flick that is best enjoyed without giving it a whole lot of scrutiny.

And on that level, it is very enjoyable.

Smith ably keeps his many narrative plates spinning, as Stuart Gazzard’s editing unmoors us from DP Robert Humphreys’ striking visuals. George delivers a strong performance as Jess, creating a believable through-line even as the narrative gets more jumbled.

Smith has proven adept at well-crafted, idiosyncratic genre fare, from the 2006 horror-satire Severance to the bleak Medieval drama Black Death from 2010. Triangle wasn’t exactly a smash hit in its day, making back only about $1.3 million of its $12 million budget at the box office, but it’s gained a solid cult following in the 15 years since its release.

The film’s trickery may not hold up to rigorous dissection, but it’s a fun watch that might spark some heady conversations.