In the Sweet Tri-and-By: Triangle and the Illusion of Control

Note: Spoilers ahead.

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Christopher Smith’s Triangle is a psychological horror thriller film that revolves around, as with most horror films, a distraught, somewhat emotionally troubled female protagonist and her friends, as they venture forth into unknown territories for some rest, relaxation, and fun. Unfortunately, like any suspenseful horror movie, misfortune, in the stead of leisure, comes crashing down like a tidal wave, leaving all in a state of terror and panic.

The movie begins with single mother Jess (Melissa George) with her son Tommy (Joshua McIvor) tightly embraced between her arms. With tender words, Jess attempts to reassure her son that everything will be fine, and that the traumatic event that we have yet to see was all but a dream. She then meets her friends Greg (Michael Dorman), Sally (Rachel Caprani), Downey (Henry Nixon), Heather (Emma Lung), and Victor (Liam Hemsworth) by the harbor for a leisure jaunt out in the ocean. While sailing, their yacht, aptly named Triangle, becomes capsized by a violent, torrential storm. After Heather’s disappearance at sea, the remaining five are later rescued by a seemingly empty ocean liner. Their rescue marks the beginning of Jess’ entrapment in an eternal causality loop and it is implied up until the end of the film that Jess is cursed to forever repeat the horrific events.

Frankly, I appreciated the film more than I thought I would. In spite of its lack of fear inducing elements, the movie left me wide-eyed and racking my brain for answers. You see, I’m as much a horror fan as I am someone who hates movies about time but, props to Smith, Triangle beautifully employed both the subtle eerie type of horror and the puzzling complexity of time travel to create one gigantic head wreck.

It is, however, without sin. Midway through the movie, I found myself somewhat disappointed by its length and lack of pace. Watching Jess traverse an endless series of identical labyrinthic halls on and on, coupled with her having as much speed as the rate with which the movie’s events unfold really tested my patience. Like her feet, the movie dragged until the quite expected ending.

Despite its lack of speed, the entire movie was well worth watching. Its background lore was both substantial and easily understandable via the dialogue. Personally, as a fan of both the horror genre and mythologies of different ancient cultures, horror movies utilizing or alluding to a real world legend augments its appeal. Hence, Jess’ crime against her son, broken promise to a cab driver, and subsequent punishment to forever be her friends’ murderer as a modern version of Sisyphus’ punishment is on point. The acting, music, and set design also foster a sense of dread and gloom.

Perhaps most importantly of all, however, is the amount of themes that were present in the film, and the subtle ways the film presents these problems. Notwithstanding its lack to induce chest-tightening fear, I propose two overarching themes of Triangle that, for me, make it a horror film: a lack of protagonist control and an encounter with or within the unknown.

Clive Barker, the director of Hellraiser and Candy Man, once stated that “[Horror fiction] shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion.” This quote is exemplified by what Jess attempted and ultimately failed to do.

One of the most shocking revelations in the film, even more so than the scene where the masked killer is actually Jess herself, is the scene near the end where she lashes out in anger at her autistic son. It is revealed that she is abusive towards Tommy. This is disheartening to see due to the very first scene in the movie, which embeds in us the idea that Jess is a good mother. In a sense, Jess’ anger and abuse towards Tommy is her attempt to control one who simply cannot be controlled.

Even after Tommy’s death, Jess’ decision to repeat her actions by going back to the boating trip thinking that she has a shot at breaking the cycle is based upon her false sense of control. She is helpless without knowing she is, which is sad. Even more depressing is the fact that with every action, Jess thinks she’s making a difference. This film, unlike many horror films that present hope for their protagonists and a chance to transcend the conflict, shows us a more philosophical, fatalistic type of horror, for what is more terrible than having to do the same thing over and over again without differing results?

The second theme is Jess’ encounter within the unknown. Bruce Kawin, author of the book Horror and the Horror Film, asserts that horror is centrally concerned with an encounter between the known and the implicitly dangerous unknown. This is evident in most horror films—whether the antagonists are aliens from beyond the stars, demons from unearthly dimensions, or ghosts from the astral plane, these monsters all come from a realm that humans find difficult, often impossible, to grasp. However, there exist a handful of horror movies wherein the killer is natural albeit manipulated to kill by the unknown. Oculus features Tim Russell, the deuteragonist who, while influenced by the film’s haunted mirror, impales her sister Kylie with an anchor originally meant to destroy the mirror. In the same way, Jess finds herself acting in accordance to the Aeolus’ rules—kill all her friends and return home.

Aside from Triangle’s themes, I also loved the symbolisms that tried to hide within the film itself. For instance, the title itself goes beyond the name of the titular yacht. Without directly revealing it, the setting of the film was undoubtedly in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, a place of anomalies reputed to make things disappear. Horror writers and directors have long since added a preternatural aspect to the Bermuda Triangle, such as Lost Voyage and Monster Island. Triangle was no different, but was certainly indirect about it. Unraveling the film’s setting begs the question—was Jess really punished by a higher power, or did they simply, unfortunately chance upon a cursed location, or did both factors play an equal part?

Even in the vessel, we only ever get to see three Jesses—an innocent Jess, a learning Jess, and a killer Jess. Three points connected by three lines in a very linear loop is, in a nutshell, both a description of a triangle’s shape as well as the plot of the movie.

The cinematographic shots of the mirrors played a more minor role in adding the film’s deeper meaning. Without a second thought, I simply believe they allude to the problem of time and the multiple Jesses aboard the Aeolus. Mirrors have always had this connection to the otherworldly. Culturally, mirrors are also connected to one’s soul, as evidenced in the superstition that breaking one will cause seven years of bad luck. Whether they’re tools to summon Bloody Mary, portals to asymmetrical realms, or living beings that reveal the fairest of them all, mirrors in fiction, especially horror fiction, are great items either to set an eerie mood or further the plot itself.

Triangle, by far, is one of the most mind-boggling horror films I’ve ever watched. It was deep, eerie, and in some cases, more down-to-earth than I thought it was. Although the film failed to scare me, it was efficient in portraying the futility of altering one’s own fate—an existential horror that simply cannot be brought upon by ghosts, demons, or cheap jump scares. It is, in my book, undoubtedly horror.

I give the movie a 4/5.

Triangle: Going Out Of The Loop

Basically, the movie “Triangle” is set on a sailing trip that turned into a disaster when mysterious weather conditions suddenly appeared out of nowhere, eventually leading the characters into an uncalled for situation of fear and anxiety. This is one way to set a horror movie in my opinion just like cutting out of signal, going to scary big houses with a history, being led to deserted carnivals with creepy clowns, recording paranormal activities, etc.

I normally do not watch horror movies but as I watched the film I started to compare the movie “Triangle” to the typical horror movies that I usually do not like to watch such as horror movies with creepy little kids, dolls that suddenly have a knife pointed at your throat, ugly old grandmothers with decaying teeth, etc. and it was bearable unlike the other horror movies that are cringe worthy to be called scary. The movie was quite interesting in a way because it goes against the conventional horror movie stereotype where the slutty girl or the black guy always dies first and the innocent virgin is the one that ends up killing the murderer and survives alone.

What I found quite nice about the movie was how it was satisfying to watch because of how it was interestingly constructed. The buildup of the story really hit me when what seemed to be a confusing movie turned out to be really connected to each happening in a way, making me expect the unexpected.

Moving on, the music was on point in a way that it built suspense. The transitioning of events was commendable in a sense that it made a good impression to me. Also, the actors and actresses were very good in portraying their roles, displaying emotions that are needed at the right place and the right time.

Personally, if I were given a chance to rate the movie, I would rate it a 3.5/5, for the following reasons. Although the movie is really amazing and I recommend it a 100%, at the end of the day it really is just a movie without a sequel that leaves you hanging, which makes me quite sad. So for the reasons, first I liked it because it plays with your mind from the very beginning until the very end. Secondly, it makes you think all throughout the movie and even after watching the movie and you start doing your own things you are still left thinking about the movie or how it is supposed to end. Thirdly, the movie made sense, unlike some movies that leaves you hanging on thoughts such as, “What on earth is happening? It made no sense, Etc.”. No, not this movie, this movie makes sense. However, in order to get a grasp of the movie you must be really attentive to the small details like calls, notes, etc., because it is all connected to each other and it will make sense if you really pay attention. Another thing, it would be better to watch it with friends because I promise you it is something that is topic worthy for a discussion, making the movie a lot more interesting and likeable.

All the more, although the movie genre is horror, I did not really feel the scare, rather it was like a mystery thriller sort of movie, as it does not have that “close your eyes and hide behind a couch” or “jump out of the chair and run to mommy” moments. Normally, I don’t watch horror movies because of the different kind of suspense it holds giving me the “I might shit my pants” feeling because of creepy looking antagonists, especially at night. Nonetheless, “Triangle” has given me a new perspective on horror movies, it gave light to an interest for horror movies personally, showing that horror movies can also be enjoyed and talked about rather than being avoided and scared about. But more than that, it made me realize that I should not stereotype all horror movies to be like “The Human Centipede”, which was gross in all sorts of way you can think of, “Chucky”, where dolls are possessed by evil spirits of sorts, “Drag Me To Hell”, where creepy old grandmothers will haunt you to death because you ignored her, etc. The movie “Triangle”, gave me a whole new way of appreciating the horror genre in a way, because now I look forward to movies that I can watch with friends even if it is part of the horror genre that I do not particularly love, but maybe in the future I will grow to love it. Because back then what I knew of horror was that it was scary, it was a “you are going to shit your pants” sort movie, or a “you won’t be able to sleep” kind of movie because I ignored the fact that it does not have to be like that, I ignored the fact it is not limited to that sort of movie making, I focused on what is on the main stream, rather than what it can be. Now, let’s try getting out of that loop where we think that every horror movie is supposed to be that one movie in our childhood that sent chills down our spine and gave us a run for our lives.

 

 

Tangles of the Triangle

I was quite content with my experience of watching the film Triangle. I feel that the tone of the movie was pretty much set from the very beginning as the spooky music and fluttering screening of the first scene seemed to presuppose a heavy storyline ahead.

Usually, I prefer my horror films to be fast-paced from the get-go because I enjoy those constant surges of action (e.g. someone being chased by a man-eating zombie) and other thrilling moments that happen in abundance. Triangle, on the other hand, started off a bit slow for my taste.

This is also my first experience of watching a horror film that is set out in the sea. Most of the horror movies I watch such as The Conjuring, The Ring, the Paranormal Activity series, Insidious, etc., take place in either an urban or rural setting. This new twist opened my eyes to a fresher look on horror movies and its versatility as a genre.

One element of the film that I really admired is the incorporation of Swing (light-toned) music after an intense scene like when Jess realized that she was indeed experiencing deja vu when she found out that she was the one who killed Victor. This sequence of events gave me the impression of a dramatic irony and that there’s still more left to be unraveled throughout the story’s plot.

Traditionally speaking, the film Triangle provides the audience with a moment of what I like to call “sarcastic frustration”. I’d like to think of sarcastic frustration as the moment when the viewer imagines himself as the character in the movie and exclaims out loud what he ought to do, but the character in the movie does the exact opposite. I had this moment myself when Jess first triggered and continued the pattern of her deja vu experience, specifically when she knew that Victor would end up getting on his head yet she still aggressively pushed him towards the sharp object on the wall.

Towards the end, the viewer may imply that Jess wanted to go back to the ship mainly because she wanted to prevent her son’s death. With that said and the rest of the storyline to back me up, I’d like to classify the film Triangle as a unique kind of horror movie mainly because it wasn’t the typical horror movie that causes viewers to be frightened or scared. This horror movie focused more on the storyline and in that light, I think it becomes part of the horror genre in a sense that the fright and horror reside within the characters of the film. This is the type of horror that seems to be more synonymous to sadness and grief rather than fright.

I would recommend this film not to those who long for frightening horror movies but to those who seek and yearn for a thrilling yet solid storyline (with some mixed elements of horror).

My Two Cents on the Movie, Triangle

Quite frankly, I’m not all head over heels with the movie that we watched last week. In fact, even up to this point, I am still analyzing the scenes that took place as I refuse to read up on movie explanations and whatnot but I eventually ended up reading two articles on the movie just a few minutes ago. Despite what’s been said, I do have to give it to everyone behind the film for a really good movie execution. For me, everything that happened was just going on in Jess’ head and that if she only came to terms with her feelings then I bet that she would have had a more normal life. But clearly, I thought wrong. After having read an in-depth analysis of the film, I finally was able to sort of understand what I watched and I must say that everything I read up online was so different from what I initially thought the events portrayed. For one, I was surprised to find out that all the scene loops that happened to Jess in Aeolus was punishment for her killing her autistic son. I never really saw it that way because it never really occurred to me that her son was dead that entire time even though her not surely knowing where her son was when she was asked at the port seemed sketchy. Also, it said in one article that I came across that the cab driver which, we saw towards the end of the film, was death’s messenger and that Jess promising him that she’d come back for her payment but didn’t as she still joined her friend’s on the sailing trip, symbolizes her being unable to grasp the reality of her killing her son, and so she will forever be stuck in the cycle she was in – which was that whole chunk of scenes we saw in the movie.

The beginning of it all was very eerie and so personally, I expected that I’d get scared and that I was in for a treat. The opening credits had all those horror vibes especially with the background music, the slowness of how the words were being flash on the screen, etc. All in all the film was very mind boggling kind of like how I felt as I was watching Interstellar. Even up to the end, nothing was clear. This made all sense, when I encountered an article stating that the movie was not merely a thriller but that it had deeper psychological concerns, as well.

What was also nice about the film was its unpredictability; no matter how repetitive the scenes were since, I, myself, basically failed at putting all the pieces together from start to finish. I found the film a bit dragging towards the end just because it had a lot of time loops and I could barely keep up. In my opinion, the very highlight of the movie was Jess (the main character) finally understanding what was happening in the ship but despite all that, she still ended up sabotaging everything especially when she so strongly wanted to fix things and save her friends.

A film under the horror genre, for me is something that will make you go crazy, make you go paranoid at night, something that will make you cover your ears when you feel something’s coming up, something that forces you to cover your eyes so that you won’t be able to see the “ghost”. However, with the movie, Triangle, I only ever felt like trying to cover my ears once during the entire one hour and thirty minutes. It was bothersome for me. I got confused especially in the parts where the scenes just kept on repeating yet nothing was resolved still. Although I don’t seem to see it as part of the horror genre I believe that quite a few consider it as a horror film because of the suspense evident during the first few parts of the movie, not to mention the eerie vibe of it as a whole. The other scenes were tolerable to watch but also felt very weird to encounter. I thought my head was spinning in circles at how frustrating it was to watch the exact same walking-under-pipes scene over and over, as well as the-hiding-behind-a-wall-because-I-someone-might-see-me scenes. And man, there were a lot of those.

I recall me and my seatmate trying to sort of figure out the buildup of the scenes from the movie but failing miserably at it. It’s amazing how the story that the writers had in mind panned out that way, really. Despite the fact that everything was basically flashbacks and repeated scenes, trying to connect the dots to try to find out why those things were happening to her was definitely a struggle, especially when you have not read a synopsis or an analysis of the movie. In its entirety, it was a mind-boggling movie more than it was a scary one and everything that occurred was pretty much karma for her killing her son because of all the frustrations surrounding her. It was one of those movies wherein you wouldn’t know what to react or say, afterwards. It was definitely an overwhelming experience having to watch the film in its entirety but I really am glad that I came across it, nonetheless.

“Triangle (2009) Explained.” Astronomy Trek. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.

Love, Guilt and Acceptance: The Three Points of Triangle (2009)

Note: Spoilers below!

The 2009 movie Triangle directed by Christopher Smith revolved around Jess (Melissa George) who is a single mother of a special child named Tommy (Joshua McIvor) and who works as a waitress in a certain restaurant. The movie started with a depressing atmosphere and music showing Jess and her son preparing for the boat trip with her friend Greg (Michael Dorman). However, the next scene showed the arrival of Jess alone at the harbor. When asked where her son was, her answer was “in school”. Her unusual quietness already gave me a hunch that she was hiding something about the true situation and location of her son.

The story went on when she boarded Greg’s ship together with Victor (Liam Hemsworth), Heather (Emma Lung), and Greg’s married couple friends, Sally (Rachael Carpani) and Downey (Henry Nixon). Then, they encountered a storm which destroyed their ship. Afterward, the horrific loop of seeing her friends die many times in front of her as well as the revelation of her son’s death and her abusing her own child started as they boarded the ocean liner that passed by.

According to Mark Jancovich, horror has been one of the most interesting genres in the film cinema because of its design to captivate our worst fears and frighten us with dark, forbidden and alarming events. At first, watching the movie until the point they encountered a storm made it hard for me to classify this film under the horror genre because storms are just result of a supernatural instance. It will be disappointing if this movie just became a horror movie just because of a weird storm that was not detected by radar. Usually, the prevalent elements of a horror film are the presence of ghosts, zombies, extraterrestrials, demons, vampires, werewolves, witches, cannibals, psycho and serial killers, witches, monsters and weird wild animals. For me, it usually involves scary sounds and mutated creatures as antagonists. Movies that are supernatural are hard to be seen as part of the horror genre. As expected, it did not just end with their encounter with the storm because they entered into a horrific situation or loop as the ocean liner.

What made the movie Triangle a horror film is the presence of the horror elements such as the ghost ship, serial killer or psychopath killing all of her friends. It is also Jess’ situation that made the film a horror one. She did not just see her friends die in front her a lot of times but she also saw counterparts of herself. As discussed in class, David Hartnell has three streams of horror: (1) moral allegory, (2) psychological metaphor and (3) nature of reality. Her struggle to go home and destroy this loop is the moral allegory of the film, and her seeing her other counterpart killing her friends is the psychological metaphor – not knowing who the real one is. This made her also question her existence. Her situation had also made her become more desperate to go home and be with her child to the point that she also tried to kill all of her friends.

The name of the ship as well as the movie is Triangle. In geometry, a triangle is defined as a shape with three sides and three vertices. I believe that the movie is entitled Triangle not just because it is the name of the ship that the characters of the movie were riding, but rather because the movie has three messages, truths, points or sides like what a triangular shape has, that it wants to convey to its audience.

The three points or messages that I feel that the movie wants to convey to us the audience is (1) love – that we’ll do everything for our family, our loved ones, (2) guilt – that it will make you remember everything like a continuous loop, and (3) acceptance – that it is the key to escape the loop by realizing that you can never undo the past and your mistakes but just rather accept the truth or reality.

First, it wants to show the value of family love – the first thing where we felt and received from our parents and siblings. As seen in the movie, Jess did everything she can to go out of the loop – from analyzing her situation and from even killing her friends. As one will say, we will always do what we can for our family no matter what consequence we may face in the future. As for Jess, the most important thing she is thinking is to see her son again (even though it will be revealed that she abuses him and kills her because of her careless driving). One will always find ways for her family, to see them again or even to protect and help them survive.

Second, it wants to convey that the guilt will always haunt us. The number of bodies of her friends and her pendant that she has seen and was shown in the movie indicates how many times she has been repeating the situation all over again – from stopping her friends die and then eventually resulting to killing them. This guilt may also be a result of the death of her son (as seen in the near end of the movie). She enters this loop because of her guilt for not accepting the death of her son due to her impatience and carelessness. The guilt of losing her son has been haunting her forever.

Lastly, it wants to show that acceptance is the one that will help solve Jess’ misery to go out of the loop. She must accept that her son is gone and will never return again. She can’t change what already happened. She must not blame also herself for being an irresponsible and impatient mother to her special child (which also resulted from her to sometimes abusing him). It is through accepting the truth that her son is gone and moving on in life that will get her out of the loop and return back to the real world.

For me, the ending of the movie really showed me how horrific the situation of Jess was as it was concluded at the end on the movie that it will always keep happening again – riding the ship, encountering the storm, finding and going to the ghost ship, killing her friends, the death of her son and riding the Triangle ship again. There’s no end to her situation of seeing her friends die by her own hands or by her counterparts. For me, it is this loop that makes the movie be part of the horror genre because of the unending desperation, death, killing that the character experiences. I like horror movies especially those who have zombie and monster but after watching this movie it made me realized how psychological and unique this horror movie is. I realized and hopefully others as well that it’s not just about the psychopaths and monsters that makes a film a horror movie (even either as a good or bad horror film) but rather the uneasiness that target us the audience of the feeling of fear, disgust and nightmare like what I felt from Jess’ situation as she can’t accept the death of her son and as she tried to escape from the loop. I felt her trauma, desperation, and guilt of seeing and causing the death of her son. It was indeed a one unique horror movie that attacks the audience of how they can accept the truth such as death – showing that nothing will change no matter what you do. The past will just keep haunting you if you won’t accept the truth and move on with life.

Reference

Jancovich, M. (2002). General Introduction. Horror, The Film Reader (pp. 1-20). London: Routledge.

THE TRIANGLE

The triangle, in my opinion, was one of the most engaging movies that I have ever watched under the horror film genre. Usually, I would tend to stay away from horror films simply because I believe that I am easily affected by those that I watch, especially horror films. Whenever I would watch horror films, I would try to focus more on knowing what the plot is. I believe that some horror movies truly do have the potential to make very entertaining stories. Sadly, there are plenty of times I have been disappointed because the plot wasn’t all that interesting yet the movie was still terrifying so I would feel regret at the end for even watching.  Luckily, the triangle was far from being one of those movies. I thought it was very interesting and I found myself absorbed in the story. As a matter of fact, I found the film very puzzling and amazing. During the movie, I kept asking myself how this certain event occurred and how did it continue to happen despite it seemingly being averted. It was even more entertaining however to have my questions answered by surprising turns of events. Despite some parts of it being a bit predictable, it was still really thrilling because the movie was able to add a little something to make each event more interesting.

It wasn’t all thrill and excitement in this movie though. Because of the fact that the film that was supposedly a horror film, it contained a few disturbing scenes and events such as piles of dead bodies, trails of blood and somewhat gory deaths. Although these things could be found in the movie, I couldn’t help but think that there was something different about it. When people are told that they are about to watch horror movies, should they be brave enough to proceed to watch it, they would be expecting jump scares and possibly traumatizing images that would probably last a couple of days. At least, this is my idea of a horror movie. Another characteristic of horror movies is that they tend to be psychologically disturbing and if not, they could also be full of gore. But I do not think that ghosts and gore are enough to make a movie a horror movie. I believe that without the main goal of implanting specific emotions, such as terror in the minds of the audience, it doesn’t fit my description of a horror movie.

As I watched this movie, initially I was afraid and I was thinking mostly about how to avoid the incoming scary situations such as screamers since it was labeled a horror film. I didn’t expect to see that the movie’s horror aspect to rely more if not completely on the plot instead of the usual ghost or serial killer jumping on the main character or other people. It did indeed give a somewhat frightening idea wherein someone can be caught in an endless cycle of desperation and anxiety. Personally, however, I believe that I failed to empathize with the main character during the movie. Perhaps our situations were a bit too different. Maybe it was because of this that  I felt very little fear while I was watching the film. The feeling of horror seemed to fade away as the story progressed and it felt more like it had a mystery theme with a hint of supernatural in my opinion. A mystery which just happened to have a few or plenty of casualties. There were quite a few deaths that occurred but it didn’t seem like the type of death that would make a person afraid of what is to come. I viewed the deaths as though were simply part of the story, like how there are some people who die in detective movies like in sherlock. I was more interested in knowing how things keep turning up they way they did and how Jess would try to resolve this problem.  

After finishing the film, I continued to wonder and ask myself whether I would consider if the movie really was a horror film or not. The aspect of the movie that struck me and left a mark wasn’t really the fear of being trapped in a hopeless situation. I don’t believe it gave me or anyone in my class that feeling of fear and worry. Although I admire the story because I found it really creative and entertaining, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations of what a horror movie should be. Even though The Triangle was able to showcase and interesting plot, as I stated earlier, the main goal of a horror movie in should be to instill fear in the minds of the audience.

Triangle

Prognostications.
präɡˌnästəˈkāSHən n. the action of foretelling or prophesying future events.
With the slightest amount of courage, I hardly had any to begin with, I tried my hand with the first film entitled Triangle. In the interest of sailing, rather, my affinity towards sea, I was most certainly inclined to think of this horror film as teeming with sea monsters, lizards, or even a monstrous Kaiju. On the flip side, however, the initial scene had an eerie notion to it; like something ominous was going to ensue because of the very interaction. This would later speak volumes when the rigmarole event of sailing turns to a repetitive hell, the inescapable demise of the girl who soon discovered the unceasing pattern of events. My appreciation for this would most likely stem from the film Edge Of Tomorrow wherein Tom Cruise unrelentingly had to die to get through a formidably adversary which could adapt to the conditions. Triangle cuts deeper by incorporating the desolate effects of death combined with the psychological stigma of being unable to escape repetition. Initially, Jess’ quotidian encounter was feeling something out of the ordinary upon boarding the Aeolus. However, as progression would dictate, the gradual shift from being hunted to the hunter soon adds room to the possibilities of the plot. It comes to a point of delirium, wherein surviving meant so much more. The viewer could actually foretell a few events in his or her head but only to be ensnared by the intense shift of plot the film had to offer. It would seem plausible to predict, but the horror would kick in once the viewer is misled and once again be tainted like Sisyphus’ unending tale.
/Spoiler/ For Jess, it would be emotionally scarring after a few rounds, but what gets me is the simultaneous existence of another Jess who was already part of the loop. The silhouette, upon being thrown overboard, gives distinct instruction to kill the other people who boarded the boat. Another dimension, possibly, would be for Jess to be aware of the situation entirely, to either prevent deaths or execute murder in a timely fashion. This gives rise to the possibility that maybe, the loop would be avoided if an element were skipped entirely. Because of this, it could be seen that Sally’s bodies, or the birds, for that matter, could end up not in the same place, but be scattered in the surroundings.
Birds–For the most part, the seagulls may actually be viewed in light of foreshadowing. In most of the scenes, these aviary species recur from the point of the storm to other events that have highlighted death. It could signify trouble (birds detect wind pretty well) was near, and the flock could be disbanded if the weather drastically changed. In addition to a possible element would be the presence of the drum featured on the deck and by the boy in the marching band. As fictitious as it is, the drum could signify the penultimate point before encounter with death, or if the boy had lived, he would be know playing the drum.
At the end of it all, adding up everything, the thing that keeps me up at night is not the members dying, or not escaping from the boat, but something deeper. Which is non- acceptance arising from future events. Refusing to be beaten. Which is why i began with the title. Each of us holds the power to decide upon the foretelling of events, be it signs, symbols. Upon leaving her corpse to be discovered at the trunk of the car, she once more rolls the dice to close one door and open the next – which is on to the harbor. But for Jess, deciding upon leaving the cab to try and resurrect her child by going through another hellish loop speaks volumes of tenacity. The sudden hesitation could possibly mean her regret for being rigid with her child, her inability to accept his passing, or simply for her unconquerable soul to try once more to change the tide.
Acceptance. Non-acceptance. Gabriel Marcel would actually approve of both. Accept the circumstances, and not to accept the limitations. Sometimes tasks can be daunting, repetitive, void of inspiration.
But long with the apprehensions of repeating everything comes hope.

So once more.

Triangle

Triangle was a film that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout its duration. At the end of it all, I was confused and a bit irritated. Not because of the movie itself but because I was so curious and eager to find out how the different scenarios relate to one another. It left a lasting impression on me that had me thinking about the film days after it ended. I wanted to see if my theories were correct or if I had missed little details that might ease my mind. I had to watch it again.