Triangle

7.0

One of the most original recent entries in the time travel genre abandons the strict rules followed by its predecessors, instead forming its own logic. Independent filmmaker Christopher Smith brings a multitude of fresh ideas to his character drama. For all intensive purposes this is a one-woman show and Melissa George plays the meaty main role very well. She single-handily carries the weighty subject matter and is able to keep the audience's attention throughout.  The supporting cast is needlessly established throughout the first act and slow the pace to a halt. The ideas at play are the real stars of the film and the characters themselves are varying degrees of cliche.

The film is a mixture of fresh science fiction and played-out modern scenarios. The first third is the weakest, hell-bent on establishing a tired horror vibe through cliche dialogue. I'm not even sure why this was marketed as a horror film in the first place. A few jump scares distract from the overtly science fiction premise.

Once the film really gets going around the halfway point it rarely lets up, delivering a one-of-a-kind thriller. The amorphous structure presents a pretty even race between audience and filmmaker. Sometimes, viewers are way ahead of the character and wait impatiently for a scenario to play out. But most of the time the ante is upped by unexpected plot twists that are just plain fun to think about. In the end, the pieces are interesting but don't quite add up to a cohesive whole. In other words, it fails where Timecrimes succeeded. I wasn't quite sold on a big character change at the end of the second act, even if it works on paper. The ending is as mind-numbing as it is empty. Triangle isn't quite up there with the sci-fi greats but is a commendable effort and worthy entry into the genre.