Narrative technique · used in 24 films
Building a love story around 3 people, where each pair has its own relationship and the third person always gets in the way. Your sympathy shifts because each of them has a fair claim.
Examples
Michael Curtiz · 1942
Rick, Ilsa and Victor form a triangle. Rick has love and a shared past. Victor has marriage and the cause. Ilsa truly loves both of them. Curtiz refuses to make Victor a villain or Rick a simple hero, so all 3 of them keep their dignity.
Where to see it: The 'Play it, Sam' sequence. The whole emotional history of the triangle gets packed into one song.
Alfred Hitchcock · 1946
Devlin loves Alicia, but his jealousy and his loyalty to the agency lead him to put her in danger. Sebastian loves Alicia and slowly poisons her when he discovers her betrayal. Alicia loves Devlin and has married Sebastian as a professional assignment. The triangle also says something about institutions. The state uses Alicia too, and that is one more form of the exploitation both men carry out.
Where to see it: The poison sequence. Sebastian and his mother poison Alicia slowly, and Devlin only learns what is happening when he sneaks into her room. Here, the triangle is at its hardest to judge ethically.
Alfred Hitchcock · 1953
Logan, Ruth and her husband Pierre form a triangle with 2 different histories. Ruth and Logan were in love before the war, and Pierre is the man she married afterward. That past is what gives Logan no alibi.
Where to see it: Ruth's testimony. She tells the police in flashbacks how she and Logan fell in love, how he went to war and how she married Pierre.
Alfred Hitchcock · 1955
Frances sets her sights on Robie while Danielle makes jealous remarks about his interest in Frances. Each pairing has its own tension, and Robie has to keep his cover with the 2 women.
Where to see it: The rooftop reveal. Robie catches the black-clad burglar and unmasks Danielle.
Elia Kazan · 1955
Abra is engaged to Aron but feels pulled toward Cal, who also wants to deserve her. Each pair has a different feeling, which makes the sibling rivalry sharper. Your sympathies keep shifting between the three.
Where to see it: Abra and the brothers: Abra grows attracted to Cal and he returns her feelings. When Aron announces their engagement at the party, Abra and Cal are both uneasy.
François Truffaut · 1962
Truffaut follows the changing shape of the love triangle across 20 years. Jules loves Catherine, Jim loves Catherine and Catherine loves the idea of both. The film keeps track of every change in who is loving whom and who is being left out.
Where to see it: The 3 of them cycling together. Where each body sits in the frame shows you how the feelings are shifting. Who is closest to Catherine changes from frame to frame.
David Lean · 1965
Yuri loves his wife Tonya and also loves Lara. Lara has Pasha and Komarovsky pulling at her. Each pair has a fair claim, and your sympathy keeps shifting.
Where to see it: Varykino. Yuri and Lara hide in the main house, and Komarovsky arrives to offer them an escape.
François Truffaut · 1980
Marion loves her hidden husband Lucas but becomes infatuated with Bernard, the new actor, whom Lucas only knows from a headshot and overheard talk. Every pair has a real bond, and the third person always gets in the way. You sympathize with all three.
Where to see it: The rehearsals. Marion works with Bernard on stage while Lucas listens from below and plans the production in secret.
Woody Allen · 1986
Elliot is married to Hannah and becomes infatuated with her sister Lee, then begins an affair with her. Each pair has its own history. You feel for all 3 because each has a fair claim.
Where to see it: Elliot and Lee. His infatuation turns into an affair, and Lee later ends it.
Steven Spielberg · 1989
Pete, Dorinda and Ted form a triangle where one of them is dead. Pete guides Ted and watches Dorinda fall for him. Each pair has its own relationship, and you feel for all three.
Where to see it: The scenes where Pete watches Dorinda and Ted. He wants her to be happy and hates giving her up.
Martin Scorsese · 1993
Newland, May and Ellen each have a fair claim on your sympathy. May looks conventional until the end, and Ellen looks free but is not. The pairs are never simple.
Where to see it: Newland and Ellen admit their love: they say it but do not act on it, and Ellen moves to Washington.
Ang Lee · 1995
Elinor, Edward and Lucy form a triangle where each pair has its own story. Lucy tells Elinor that she and Edward have been secretly engaged for 5 years. Elinor loves Edward, but she keeps this quiet.
Where to see it: Lucy's secret. Lucy confides to Elinor that she and Edward have been secretly engaged for 5 years.
Wong Kar-wai · 2000
The love triangle here has an unusual shape. Its 3rd and 4th corners are the cheating spouses, and they never appear on screen. Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow are defined entirely by what their absent partners have taken from them. As a matter of fact, you feel those missing people more strongly than any character you do see.
Where to see it: The stairwell encounters. The 2 neighbors pass each other in a narrow space. Being physically close is the only intimacy the film allows them.
Ang Lee · 2000
Li Mu Bai, Yu Shu Lien and Jen form the film's moral and romantic triangle. Li Mu Bai loves Yu Shu Lien but can't say so. He is drawn to Jen as both a student and a mirror. Jen carries the freedom that he and Yu Shu Lien have both given up. The triangle measures what holding desire down costs.
Where to see it: Li Mu Bai's deathbed confession to Yu Shu Lien. He finally speaks the love he held back for decades, at the moment when speaking can no longer change anything. The triangle ends in pure loss.
Woody Allen · 2008
Vicky, Cristina and Juan Antonio each form their own pairing, and María Elena is always in the background. Vicky gives in to Juan Antonio in Oviedo, Cristina moves in with him, and then María Elena joins the household. Your sympathy keeps shifting, because every person has a fair claim.
Where to see it: The household of three. After María Elena moves in with Juan Antonio and Cristina, the three get along and become romantically involved.
Sarah Polley · 2011
Margot's marriage to Lou and her pull toward Daniel never sit in neat boxes. Each pair has its own warmth, so you cannot easily pick a side. Daniel even ends up at their anniversary outing.
Where to see it: Rickshaw ride: Daniel offers to rickshaw Margot and Lou to a movie theater, and Lou, unaware, accepts.
David Lowery · 2013
Bob is the husband who is gone, Ruth is the woman waiting and Patrick is the kind man close by. Each pair has a real claim. By the end you feel for all three, which makes the finish hurt more.
Where to see it: Sofa and last night: Sylvie wakes to find her mother asleep in Patrick's arms. Later Patrick finds Bob badly wounded in the house and Ruth stops him from approaching.
Damien Chazelle · 2016
The triangle here is Mia, Sebastian and their careers. The third corner is ambition itself, and there is no rival. The shape is exact. The more completely each of them gets what they dreamed of, the less space is left for the other. The romance and the dreams can't live together, and the film traces exactly how.
Where to see it: The argument over dinner at their apartment. The triangle comes out into the open. Sebastian's touring career and Mia's writing now sit in the space between them that the other person used to fill.
Woody Allen · 2016
Bobby falls for Vonnie, but she is secretly seeing his uncle Phil. When Phil decides to leave his wife for her, she has to choose. Each pairing has its own history, and you feel for all three.
Where to see it: The choice. Bobby sees the Valentino letter in Phil's office, realizes who "Doug" is and asks Vonnie to choose. She chooses Phil.
Woody Allen · 2017
Ginny has an affair with Mickey, and then Mickey falls for Carolina. Each pair has its own history, and the third person is always in the way. You feel for Ginny and for Carolina, which makes the jealousy hard to judge.
Where to see it: The pizza parlor date: Mickey and Carolina go out in Brooklyn, and word of it reaches the gangsters hunting her.
Celine Song · 2023
Nora, Hae Sung and Arthur don't form a conventional love triangle. There is no rivalry and no deception. This triangle is about time. Hae Sung stands for what Nora was, and Arthur stands for what she chose to become. Nora is the person standing between her past self and her present life.
Where to see it: The bar scene. All 3 characters are together for the first time, so you can finally see the shape of the triangle. What the film is saying about choice and loss is now out in the open.
Luca Guadagnino · 2024
Every relationship in the film runs through all 3 of them. Tashi plays the 2 men against each other, and their friendship is its own kind of romance. Guadagnino has said that in a love triangle, all the corners touch. Your loyalty keeps moving because each of them has a fair claim.
Where to see it: The hotel room in 2006. Tashi kisses the 2 young men, then leads them into kissing each other before she ends the night.
Barry Jenkins · 2024
Taka's jealousy over Sarabi turns the brothers against each other. Each pair has its own feeling, and the third always gets in the way.
Where to see it: Taka, Sarabi and Mufasa: Taka's jealousy leads him to betray Mufasa.
Celine Song · 2025
Lucy, Harry and John each have their own relationship with each other. Harry is the polished choice, and John is the old flame who still knows her best. Your sympathies move back and forth because each man has a fair claim.
Where to see it: The wedding reception. Lucy turns down Harry's interest and suggests he become a client, while her ex John works the party as a caterer.
Questions