Like many, my addiction to the hit TV show Severance – which follows a shadowy biotech company that can “sever” people’s memories at work from their memories of the outside world – has increased my appetite for more mind-bending, high-concept stories.
Drawing from a rich well of inspiration, which encompasses The Twilight Zone and Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Severance has reawakened a specific obsession of mine: “puzzle box” sci-fi plots, where Matryoshka doll mysteries unfold in a confusing and horrifying fashion, escalating into an exhilarating crescendo that is usually analysed in forums and YouTube videos tagged with the promise “ENDING EXPLAINED”.
The most wonderful thing about this kind of ornate storytelling is that no big budget is required, simply big ideas. Severance’s playfulness with non-chronology, labyrinthine hallways and duplicate selves are also found in scrappy, low-budget gems, including Christopher Smith’s underrated 2009 film Triangle.
On its face, Triangle is set up like a formulaic horror flick. A bunch of loosely connected, attractive thirtysomethings gather on a sailboat for a sunny day out at sea. We follow Jess (Melissa George), a harried single mother who we first see soothing her young autistic son, before she mysteriously turns up alone.
Things get weird fast. A mysterious storm descends; a frantic distress signal crackles on the radio; when the sailboat capsizes, the group are forced to board a hulking ocean liner which seemingly appears out of thin air, deserted save for a silhouette spied against the railing. By the time the friends are being hunted by a masked killer along the liner’s hallways, Jess is experiencing dizzying bouts of deja vu – not the typical disposition of a final girl.
Needless to say, the less you know about Triangle, the better. Its genre-busting unfolds with a surprising elegance as, before you know it, its straightforward survival plot warps into a Mobius strip. The initially limited cast becomes haunted by doubles upon doubles, and every scant detail from the first moments of the film becomes imbued with retroactive meaning.
Part time-loop movie, part slasher, part fable, the dizzying narrative scope is even more impressive when contrasted with its charmingly schlocky confines. An Australian-UK co-production, Queensland is very obviously subbing in for Florida and the cast is populated by Aussie and Kiwi actors attempting questionable American accents (including a pre-fame Liam Hemsworth).
The initial dodgy special effects and hammy line deliveries quickly give way to expressive, atmospheric direction as we sink into the mind of our tortured lead. George delivers a captivating performance as a woman who proves herself to be more than a stock character.
The most intricate cabinet of curiosities is only worth anything if we find something meaty behind its doors, something with a real pulse. Like Severance, Triangle is an identity thriller at its heart.
Though Jess initially appears to pick up clues that explain the contours of the surreal trap she has found herself in – and, on a meta-level, there are many Reddit threads and flow charts explaining the story’s logic – the conclusion renders this near-void, offering something much more mythic and thematically rich.
The creepy ghost ship location (the Kubrickian influences are given a shout-out through a significant room labelled “237”) is named after the Greek god Aeolus, the ruler of winds and father of the eternal rock-pusher Sisyphus. If this seems to be a fairly obvious metaphor for being stuck in a loop, Smith takes it to the next level, with heady questions about how desperate a person can be to change their circumstances while refusing to change critical aspects of their character.
Triangle is a thrilling watch because of its inherently multilayered, unclassifiable nature: it’s both small-scale and epic, a puzzle and a myth, brainy and silly. Unpacking the events of the film, I’ve often been overwhelmed with frustration, wondering if I was thinking about it too hard, if I was simply trying to explain away plot holes.
The conclusion I’ve reached is that it really is that good. It’s everything a mystery should be: complex and bold, with jaw-dropping moments and discomforting characters. It’s a film that sticks in the mind – if it doesn’t make your brains ooze out your ears.
Triangle is available to stream on Stan (Australia), Pluto TV (UK) and Peacock and Prime Video (US). For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click here
