FILM INFO: In 1945 five bombers in training went missing. Triangle is the story of a man who wakes up in present day, dumbfounded and confused. He begins his journey back to the only place he believes is his home.
WRITTEN BY: Christopher Fox DIRECTED BY: Christopher Fox GENRE: Drama, Sci-Fi TIME: 9 minutes.
The dreaded and mysterious Bermuda Triangle. That legendary location of the North Atlantic ocean responsible for countless disappearances spanning many, many decades. From electromagnetic caused crashes to time traveling escapades, this location has become quite famous in conspiracy fueled circles. So why not a short film using this location as a plot arc? Many an interesting story await the creative writer, willing to tackle such a known location. Enter the short film "Triangle" from writer, director Christopher Fox. Much like the real location, far off in the ocean, this short flick ends up remaining a mystery, leaving room only for speculation and theories. You see reader, unless you happen to read the description of the movie before you watch it, you'll have no clue what it's about until the very end. Even then, it's a little ambiguous. Myself, personally, rarely read the descriptions. It kind of ruins the film for me. It also happens to say a lot about a title when you can simply hit the play button, and let the story speak for itself. That just didn't happen here. Fast forward to the ending, the big reveal, that really wasn't that big at all. There is no real explanation to anything... or even any real purpose of the story. If the goal of the film was to continue the mysterious happenings, surrounding the Bermuda Triangle... it did just that. Only then, you have to ask yourself: If what I watched served no real purpose, story-wise, what was the point? The real mystery was why to take on such a project and not offer any kind of real plot? I'm not writing that this was a bad film. On the contrary, there were some really nice elements to it. I'm simply writing that looking for answers here is foolhardy. This is a quick flick to watch, hum-and-haw a little, and then move on. Technically, "Triangle" isn't a bad looking short film. Clearly independent, but of a higher standard visually. Some of the locations are not only pretty cool, but quite fitting the content. This is all held together with a decent, interesting edit that uses the backing score as the main driving force. The only dialog is during the end, and cast-wise, the actors did a fine job when all is considered. As I wrote above, the visual style wasn't really the problem. It was the presentation. As I wrote, unless you read the description, you will have no clue what is happening. There's no clear cut path story-wise; just a collection of clips. This film should have been cut by three or four minutes... at least. A good eighty-five percent of this movie is dialog free, and features our lead character simply walking. That's it. It's not until the ending that some interesting flashback style edits begin, and not until the very end we get any actual dialog or story explanations. "Triangle" really is a montage containing some interesting locations and not much else. Sure, these locations are pretty cool... thus the slightly higher rating... but the same thing could have been accomplished in a fraction of the time. Allowing the intended story to become evident much more in proportion with the length of the film. "Triangle" is an interesting short film that although doesn't answer any questions, and is a little long winded, still warrants a viewing. Even if just to check out some of the cool locations. Artistic expression is a beautiful thing, but don't forget us viewers in the mix. You have a story? Make sure you tell it in the film, not in the description. That way, we, the viewers are not left in the dark. Technically and visually, Christopher Fox offers up some inspiration and a good closing. It would be great to see this title fleshed out just a little bit more. -JT
