Triangle (2009) – excellent suspense film

I’d never even heard of this film until I was emailed about it last week. Triangle is a reality-bending brainteaser film, similar in style to Shutter Island. It failed at the box office despite strong reviews, great direction and a very strong script. The story structure is exceptionally well thought out. While Inception pretty much announces its themes and structure so that non-thinking viewers can “get it” after a first viewing, Triangle offers a fine balance of mystery and revelation. It’s consistently entertaining in a way that other multiple plot twist films become tedious and its ending revelations offer a psychological paradigm that goes beyond superficial justification. A major plus point is the lack of CGI. The lack of teenage “wow” moments, in preference for Hitchcock-like subliminal detail, combined with a limited promotional campaign (who’d have thought the UK Film Council would back a film like this) are likely the source of its box office failure. Writer / director Christopher Smith is a new talent to look out for.

Watch it. Promote it.