Triangle (2009)

Director Christopher Smith (Creep and Severance) has pieced together a superbly written story about a young single mother Jess (played by Melissa George) who was invited by her friend Greg (Michael Dorman) to his yacht for a leisurely Saturday cruise. Also on board are Greg's friends Victor, Downey and his wife Sally (who also brings along an unexpected guest Heather). When Jess arrives at the harbour, nothing seems quite right (you'll understand why later on), without giving too much away they set sail and suddenly the wind drops leaving them stranded A storm happens to be brewing ahead of them and before they could do anything, the yacht gets caught up and is turned over by a wave with one of the crew members being swept away. What happens next is the start of the never ending nightmare for them all.

When the storm dies down quietly approaching them is an ocean liner, The Aeolus. A deserted ship with only a shadowy figure on deck they spot as they call out for help. They jump on board to try to find their missing friend and to alert the coast guard for help but as arrive onto the deck, Jess gets a sense of deja vu.

The basic premise is that the shadowy masked figure turns out to be hunting them down and Jess is the only one who has the answers as to why 'they' are doing it.

When we get into the interiors of the ocean liner you can see the references to The Shining. Long corridors, writings on mirrors, even the room number 237 (where Jack Nicholson character discovers the evil spirit) makes an appearance in this film. The whole ship is a complete maze just like the hotel. 

What I really like about this film is that there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle which all becomes apparent as the film goes on. It's intriguing how it all works and how Jess is forever battling on to change her destiny. There are so many little clues within the dialogue that you would only notice upon a second viewing. It is definitely a film you need to watch twice to completely appreciate the effort and the logistics on how and why everything is played out the way it does.  

What you'd expect to be a stalk and slash horror film turns out to be a very ingenious little psychological trip. You might be surprised when the masked killer is revealed but then again you might not, this isn't the main objective of this film. The acting is above average, the plotting and script is excellent. I can't recommend this film more highly. I was pleasantly surprised by how the film turns out and  very impressed on how it all fitted neatly together.

When you finish this film, you'll also see why the seagull is so important to the film. It follows Jess all the way through the film caught on the same path as protagonist.Without the seagull we'd have no film.....
Pay attention to the opening scene as well as it is also the beginning of the end (quite literally).

Definitely one to pick up and watch over and over and over and over....

17/20