Sophia Ray’s utterly stunning Triptych is a triumph of a short film. Its beauty and unsettling nature, coupled with its psychological surrealist horror, make it a captivating exploration of the price of ambition. Ray has crafted a visually and auditorily alluring piece that will keep you engaged long after finishing the film.

Margaux is a high-end art dealer who intends to destroy a Hieronymus Bosch masterpiece all in the name of performative art. But, before she can carry out such an act, the painting and a haunting mysterious force from her past threatens to destroy everything she’s built.

In our own way, we all make certain sacrifices to get ahead in our careers; for most, it is less family time, past hobbies going by the wayside, etc. But for some, there are other sacrifices, and for the few, those sacrifices are on the somewhat darker side of the spectrum. For those who make such sacrifices to get that foot on the ladder to success, it could be easily believed to leave a mark on them psychologically. Sure, they may look grand on the outside, but the turmoil can sit there deep within, making them fragile and ready to push the self-destruct button on themselves at the worst time. This is one of the many threads that Sophia Ray grapples with in her thematically deep and gorgeous short film, Triptych.

We see this with Margaux, there is a swagger to her in the opening scenes as she exclaims her intent to destroy what should never be destroyed, unknowingly pushing her self-destruct button and triggering a slew of horrifically captivating moments. These moments, filled with surreal and disturbing imagery, are a sight to behold for her and the audience to endure. Her mental spiral/reckoning is a sight to behold. While short, there is enough imagery present to provoke a reaction from you. Goodness knows what could have been done with a longer runtime, but for this specific film, Triptych is perfect as a 15-minute visceral experience.

One of those types of shorts that places every penny of its budget onto the screen. Julija Fricsone-Garviss’ production design is, at times, a literal work of art. To give you some idea of how gorgeous yet unsettling the work that she has achieved here, taking the imagery Bosch created in his paintings and making it cinematic. It would be something akin to the beauty that Patti Podesta and then Matthew Davies achieved in the Hannibal television series. It unnerves you but lures you in at the same time. It’s just brilliant work.

Couple this with what cinematographer David Foulkes conjures up, and you have this unspoken visual dissonance that forges this excellent balance for Triptych. The scratching score from Adam Janota Bzowski and Finn Keane helps accentuate the disconcertion at seeing what is happening to Margaux. You are never purposely never comfortable, even when Margaux is presenting to her audience what she aims to do; Foulkes utilises a wide lens to pan around. She shows us Margaux’s impending doom to significant effect. Then, by throwing us into close-ups, we are forced to never settle; it’s simple but immensely effective as a way to constantly throw off the audience as to what to expect visually.

Which leads us to the incredibly challenging performance from Emma Suki. She pulls off the role marvellously well, and seeing where she starts the Triptych and where her character finishes the film is a sight to behold. We have someone who has gotten everything she ever dreamt and (bargained) for in her life and has the unwise self-assuredness to think she can move beyond it, Margaux is performing to her audience, presenting the idea that she is this assured, powerful person in the art world, but when one brick is taken from her wall, she falters, and the real Margaux is revealed. It’s subtle, but we see it. Suki is able to give subtle moments as much power as harsher, more aggressive moments that the role requires of her. An incredibly strong performance from the actor.

It is all of these smart little decisions throughout Triptych that leave you thoroughly impressed with it and ask you what could Sophia Ray achieve with a feature, not necessarily horror (though that would be preferred for selfish reasons), but there is a cleverness to her approach to her film that you want more from her, you actively want to see what she makes next, you want to go back and look at her other shorts etc as there is a special talent here and hopefully we see more of her on a grander scale sooner rather than later.

For Triptych, though, it’s an artistic horror that leaves plenty unsaid verbally yet leaves its thoughts and meanings heavy in the air. It’s one hell of an experience and should be watched in a dark and quiet room if you can.

★★★★★

Support Us

I am but a small website in this big wide world. As much as I would love to make this website a big and wonderful entity. That would bring in more costs. So, for now, all I hope is to make Upcoming On Screen self-sufficient. Well, enough to make any website fees less of a worry for me in the future. You can support the website below…

Patreon

You can support us in a variety of ways (other than that wonderful word of mouth) and those lovely follows. If you are so inclined to help us out then you can support us via Patreon, find our link here! We don’t want to ask you much, so for now, we have limited our tiers to £1.50 and £3.50. These will, of course, grow the more we plan to do here at Upcoming On Screen.

Thanks for reading; every view helps us out more than you would think (we have fragile egos). Until next time.

Social Media

You can also support us via Twitter and Facebook Instagram and Blue Sky! by giving us a follow and a like. Every single one helps!