Triggered

Following a series of brutal murders, a teen fighting for equality in her small-town of perceived bigotry with her friend finds the perfect opportunity to take credit for the work of a psychotic killer around town, but when the real killer targets her she finds herself forced into an unwinnable position to get away alive.

This was a decent enough if problematic genre effort. What manages to hold this one up are the few-and-far-between notions of this one being a straightforward, simplistic slasher effort. The attacks here are quite fun, with the initial ambush on the gay couple around their house by striking the straggler first before launching a more sustained strike against the others inside is a great start to this one as the flickering lights create a sense of tension that's helped along by the paranoia about the killer potentially around and the slow walk-through of the house that features several shocking and gruesome kills that are integrated nicely alongside the attempts to fight back. The shorter ambushes against her friends and other co-workers in town are just as enjoyable with the shock attacks and generally brutal kills that arise out of it generate some tense moments as well. Combined with the final girl role-reversal twist present, these hold this one up overall although the film is held down by several factors. The biggest issue is the absolutely troublesome and utterly infuriating main lead who manages to make this one next to impossible to get behind in the early stages of the film. An aggressive, controversial busy-body in the cliched notion of every social-justice-warrior who believes she has to fight for people that have no voice when they're too blinded by the notion of joining a cause to realize that they're fighting for issues that aren't important to the people she's fighting for, the main lead is a bit much for some to take.as these seem to be her only qualities. The change into being a crazed, attention-seeking hypocrite that changes her appearance into a more feminine and attractive while forgetting her entire moral crusade just because she's getting attention is believable and rather enjoyable here since it comes about as a result of what she wanted the whole time and completing the hypocrite circle she started. As well, there's also the film's egregious and unnecessary overlong running time. There's no need for the film to go on just shy of two hours as too much here doesn't need to be shown. Not only are the constant attempts at getting equality for others or talking down to everyone else around here annoying and troublesome, the random incidents of the couple going around the town trying to find new things to inspire outrage about what's going on in the town don't have much interest going on. With visits to a brothel, constant iterations of social media pandering that comes about after she gets attacked and survives to the pointless interrogation scenes between her and the authority figures in her life, there's almost nothing here about the random killer striking until so late in the film that it feels quite underwhelming when it finally becomes more prominent after not being a part of this for so long instead of this other build-up. Otherwise, this one isn't too bad.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Male Nudity and a sex scene.

Callee is your average white, straight, cis-gender teenager and she's not too thrilled about it. In an effort to stand out, she's pretended to be British, a lesbian, and, now, she's taken up social justice causes. Due to her abrasive personality, she only has one friend - a gay kid named Ian who's already getting a bit weary of her theatrics himself. When a famed local serial killer resurfaces after 30 years, Callee uses this opportunity to fake an attack as an attempt to get the attention she so desperately craves, but she'll soon find out that this will come with a steep price.

Triggered is never what you think it's going to be. From the posters and trailers, I had assumed it would be the story of some wacky social justice warrior punishing everyone she disagrees with politically (like a revamped Serial Mom), but Triggered doesn't take the obvious route and is, instead, more of a satire on toxic friendships and the need for everyone to be noticed.

The performances are strong all across the board with special mentions going to Meredith Mohler, Jesse Dalton, and Amanda Wyss who get the best material to work with even if Keni Bounds threatens to steal the entire film every time she shows up as Callee's lush of a mother. The script is solid with some really great bits of dialogue, some good twists, and a surprising amount of dramatic heft when called for. The film does wear its budget on its sleeve at some points, but I was never taken out of the film. If I had a complaint, it's that some of the horror/slasher elements feel underbaked and take a backseat to the comedy and friendship drama.

I doubt Triggered will suit everyone's taste, but it's worth giving a shot if you like movies like Heathers, Jawbreaker, or Drop Dead Gorgeous.

There's an insanely brash and annoying teenager named Callee who only has one friend - a shy gay guy named Ian who's latched onto her because he doesn't see any better options in their backwoods town. Though she has no talents to speak of, Callee wants to be special more than anything else in the world and when a serial killer comes into the picture, she takes a break from screaming at her classmates (and teachers) about various forms of perceived bigotry and decides that pretending to be one of the killer's latest victims is a better way to get her dream.

While borrowing from several teen movie cliches (Heathers, Scream, Jawbreaker, and Female Trouble came to mind a few times while watching it), Triggered creates something unique and unlike anything I've ever seen. The character of Callee is so disgustingly unlikable from the first few lines out of her mouth that you just want to punch her and, yet, Meredith Mohler's performance (while occasionally over the top) is grounded in what seems like real human pain. Jesse Dalton is equally wonderful as Ian and he's very much the eyes and ears of the audience throughout. Amanda Wyss shows up in what, at first, seems like a glorified cameo, but she ends up featuring much more heavily in the film than I was initially expecting which was a very pleasant surprise and she gets a few wonderful moments (including a moving/hilarious bit where she's telling Callee about the worst year of her life as Callee scrolls through her phone, not caring).

The comedy and drama sometimes play better than the slasher/horror aspect (though, I did jump a few times and I rarely ever do that), but the film never bored me and I was always totally invested in the story. I'd recommend it.

From Beginning to End this film had my attention!!! Normal I do not care for New Horror Movies, But This One is a Rare Gem! The plot of the film is very original and did not try to be a carbon copy of the golden age of the slashers! The actors are amazing and fully embodied their roles!!! I will be telling all my friends about this film!! LoVE It!!!!

This movie is just all around fun. It takes a dash of the slasher flick and mixes in a big helping of modern day relevance. Mohler's acting is superb and Dalton does a great job. Definitely great for a Saturday night with some popcorn.