ALL SCI-FI

[Custer]

While it would seem to be a regular US movie, this is actually a co-production between Britain and Australia, where it was filmed. But the question is, is it science fiction, or fantasy, or axe-wielding horror? It's a difficult movie to discuss without going into spoiler territory, but the main claim to an sf vibe is that there is a time loop involved. Three young men and three young women go out for a pleasure trip on a yacht — but before too long a massive, unexpected electrical storm approaches. Before you can say "Guys, would it be a good time to take down your sails?" the storm is upon them. Radio communication is disrupted, while attempting to talk to the coast guard - and we also hear, partially obscured by the static, a panicky woman in distress, perhaps nearby. By the time the storm abruptly ends, the yacht is capsized. But fear not, as a big old ocean liner approaches — they are saved!



However, when they board the vessel, it seems uninhabited. Its name Aeolus refers to the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology — also, according to one of our characters, the mother of Sisyphus, who in ancient legend was forced to roll a big boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down, for all eternity. Kind of a time loop there...

Our main character is Jess, as seen in the poster above. The time loop begins to tighten, so that characters that are killed return, repeating their earlier actions — is it perhaps necessary for all the characters to die, for the loop to be unravelled? Jess watches from the deck of the Aeolus as the liner again approaches the capsized yacht, with herself and her friends on it. Eventually a strange flash-forward becomes reality, and we see the opening events of the story from a different angle, explaining some actions which had been slightly puzzling. Jess takes a cab to the marina, and without paying the driver she heads for the yacht once more. "I promise, I'll be back" she tells him...

Much is revealed, and one is tempted to watch the whole thing again, with one's new knowledge of the situation. Is Groundhog Day science fiction? This would seem to be the sort of case that Sapphire and Steel would try to put right, but without that sort of intervention, does Jess have any hope, in repeating the fateful day, of putting right her brief, fatal error...?

[Bud Brewster]

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Excellent review, Custer. I like your description of the movie's merits better than Wikipedia's detailed synopsis, which is pretty confusing. That's to be expected with a complex plot such as this.

As for the question of whether this is science fiction, everything I read about the movie indicates that it's definitely Horror, with no real science fiction elements. Your comparison of the repeating-events in Triangle and Groundhog Day is certainly valid, and that movie is clearly a fantasy film rather than sci-fi.

Wikipedia states that reviews were predominately positive for Triangle, which is surprising in view of the $12 million budget and the unfortunate $1.6 million box office.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Custer]

There are horrific moments in there, though one could argue that Alien isn't ideal for viewers who are easily upset. We don't have a mad axeman running around killing co-eds for the fun of it... so I'd tend towards fantasy. The fun that the movie has with the loop through time, though, has to give a tinge of sci-fi to the production. My friend Gerry, who presented me with the dvd on Sunday, commented that, unlike the latest offering in the Terminator franchise, all the happenings brought about by the time shenanigans do actually make perfect sense.

Anyway, I thought it deserved to get added to the index, despite the complete absence of flying saucers.