Triangle

Now here's an oddity. A film which has an American cast, setting and 'feel' about it, but which was in part sponsored by our own dear National Lottery. I'm glad to report that the money wasn't wasted, as Triangle is one of the better supernatural thriller/horror/mysteries I've seen in a good while.

The Triangle of the title is a yacht that sets sail from Miami with half a dozen youngish folk on board - three male, three female. Of the latter one, Jes, seems a bit out of it. Not quite focused on the having fun at sea experience. And then all weirdness breaks loose in the form of a sudden calm, a strange distress signal, and a menacing storm that blows up out of nowhere. The Triangle capsizes and one of the women apparently drowns. The other five hang on to the upturned hull. Things do not look good.

Cue the arrival of a big ocean liner, the Aeolus. The vessel slows down so the survivors can board. But why is there no-one on deck to greet them? Indeed, why does there seem to be nobody about at all? Is the Aeolus really a vintage liner from the Thirties? And what might be the significance of the legend of Sisyphus. Jes has a bad feeling about all this. It's deja vu. And then all bloody mayhem breaks loose.

Suffice to say that Triangle is rather like a feature-length, updated and violent version of The Twilight Zone, but without Rod Serling to pop in at the end and moralise about lessons learned and so forth. Instead, we find ourselves with Jes in a variant on Sartre's hell, which is quite definitely about other people - including herself. It's a pleasure to find a movie this complex that still makes sense right up to the final scene, when something as seemingly innocuous as a cab ride to the harbour takes on great significance. Recommended.