Meaning Of The Film Triangle (2009): Plot Summary & Explanation of The Ending. The Horror Ending & Time Loop Explained. Triangle is a mysterious, intriguing film with a deep meaning and numerous positive reviews from viewers. It is considered the most successful project of Christopher Smith. The thriller needs to be watched several times to understand the director’s intention. If the meaning of the movie “Triangle” is still unclear to you, read on – it will be interesting. Timelines Finally Explained.
Summary
To understand the meaning of the film “Triangle”, remember the plot of the thriller.
It all starts with a scene in the house of the main character Jess. She is going somewhere with her autistic son, Tommy. Then the girl comes to the bay, meets with friends:
- Greg, who is not indifferent to her;
- Greg’s friends Downey and Victor;
- Downey’s wife, Sally;
- Sally’s friend is Heather.
The company goes on a boat trip on Greg’s yacht. The weather is beautiful, the sun is shining. Suddenly a huge dark cloud moves in. The boat gets into a storm, crashes. Everyone survives except Heather. The lucky ones are sitting on an overturned yacht.
A huge ship “Aeolus” floats by. The heroes board the giant. The liner is empty. In the hold, guests discover a restaurant with laid tables. Jess thinks she’s been here before. The company diverges in different directions. Gradually, all the friends of the main character are killed with a gun by a man in a raincoat and mask.
Jess runs from the killer to the deck. A fight starts. As a result, the girl throws the stranger overboard. Finally, the killer says in a female voice: “They will come again. You’ll have to kill them to get back.”
It seems that the worst is behind us, but…
The main character does not believe her eyes – in the sea she sees herself and her friends on an overturned yacht. The newly arrived characters cry for help when they see a large ship. When a new party gets on the liner, Jess follows them: everything that happens to the heroes is repeated, they say the same phrases.
Over time, the girl realizes that the man in the mask and raincoat is her copy in one of the previous races. She killed her comrades in order to return home. Jes tries to change everything and warn his friends. But in the end, she only changes the place and the weapon for killing the heroes – another copy of her killer is operating on the ship. As soon as everyone from the nth race dies, the next batch of clones arrives.
On a note! There are several references to Kubrick’s thriller The Shining in the film. For example, room number 237, in which some important events in the Triangle take place, and in which King Torrance meets one of the terrible guests of the Overlook Hotel.
Jess comes to the conclusion that nothing can be changed. The only way to get out of the ship is to kill all your friends and prevent the next batch from getting on the liner. Then it will all be over. The girl herself puts on a cloak and mask and kills her comrades. Only Jess from the last race remains. The battle between the twins takes place on the deck. The newly arrived Jess throws the heroine overboard.
The heroine woke up on the ocean. Runs home. He sees his son through the window. She hears herself scolding Tommy, hitting him. Jess kills his copy, and takes his son away. Trying to calm Tommy, the girl is unable to control the car. The car crashes into a truck. The son dies. The heroine again takes a taxi to the bay, to meet friends to go on a sea voyage.
Plot Explanation
What and why is happening on the Aeolus liner and how is this connected with the main character? What is the meaning of the plot of the movie “Triangle”?
Jess is a pleasant-looking girl, a kind, caring mother. But at the end, the viewer can see what she was before – aggressive, dissatisfied with her fate, the need to be the mother of an autistic child. She could hit an already weak, frightened kid for any little thing, tearing her anger out on him. For such an attitude towards her son, the heroine was punished – her son died. Jess herself dies in the accident. But when a taxi driver to the realm of the dead offers the girl a lift, she doesn’t go to the realm of the dead, as it should be, but to the bay.
Jess cannot forgive himself for Tommy’s death and his attitude towards him. She doesn’t have the heart to accept reality. Therefore, the heroine is trying to change the past and return her son.
On a note! Despite the interesting plot, the film “Triangle” gave a meager income to its creators. A little more than $1.5 million was the thriller’s box office receipts, while the film’s budget was $12 million.
Once on the ghost ship, she managed to deceive time – being thrown off the liner, the girl wakes up on the shore in the early morning, even before the accident occurred. To finally say goodbye to the past, she kills her evil self and takes Tommy away. But the catch is that you can’t change the past, and you can’t cheat death – and this is the point of the movie “Triangle”. All attempts to change something lead to the same ending – the death of both heroes through the fault of the heroine.
From the number of notes “Kill them when they come”, pendants in the hatch, dead Sally on the deck and seagulls on the shore, one can understand how numerous the futile efforts of Jess are. She tries over and over again to correct her mistakes, but nothing works.
Love and appreciate those who are dear to you – the director tells the audience. And if God gave you a child, then you should rejoice, even if sometimes it is very difficult with him. Otherwise, the Almighty can take it back.
Names with symbolic meaning
The heroine is punished for her desire to cheat death – she must endlessly go through trials on a ghost ship, watching the death of her friends, saving and then killing them in order to lose her son again. Hence the name of the ship “Aeolus”. The son of the wind god Eol, Sisyphus, deceived death and Hades. For this, he was forced to perform Sisyphean labor every day – to lift a stone uphill, which fell down before his eyes.
The meaning of the title of the film “Triangle” (2009) can be interpreted in different ways:
- The thriller shows 3 states of the heroine – life (time before the accident), death (accident) and the state between life and death (travel on the liner) – this is her personal spiritual triangle;
- On the ship, Jess performed in turn 3 roles in the Karpman triangle: victim, rescuer, aggressor-killer.
- Comparison of the crash site of the liner with the Bermuda Triangle, where ships often disappear. This is also the name of the ship carrying to the ill-fated part of the sea.
- The director created a triangular time loop in which Jess got stuck of her own free will: the moment of the accident – the time of the crash of the liner – awakening on the shore (return to the past).
What is the essence of the ending
Despite all the efforts of the main character to change fate, her car again gets into an accident. The ghost of Jess looks at the dead son with horror. A taxi driver arrives to take the girl to Death Valley. But the distraught mother cannot come to terms with the loss of her child and sets out again to change the past.
The meaning of the ending of the film “Triangle” is that everything will continue to happen along a triangular closed time loop created by the heroine herself. Jes will continue to serve his own punishment until he accepts reality, forgives himself and goes to rest in the Kingdom of the Dead.
Life does not always give a chance to correct the mistakes of the past. Moreover, there is no way to return someone who is already dead. You need to protect, love and appreciate loved ones right now. This is reminiscent of Christopher Smith in his film Triangle.
