Triggered

This teenage slasher spoof was extremely fun! The main character Callee was nothing like I've seen before. Loved the low budget feel to this movie and it has the right amount of bloodshed! I personally loved the twist in this film as well that came into place around the end. Amanda Wyss was very good in this too! People say that the killer's mask and outfit was cheap and tacky, but for a satire it fit perfectly. Honestly not a bad teenage slice n dice em' flick either. Highly recommend!!

Triggered has what is, quite possibly, the most loathesome character I've ever seen on screen. Her name is Callee and all she does is complain about (mostly) made up bigotry and intolerance. She seems to think that being a crusader for social justice only entails following the most ridiculous of the far left on Twitter and shaming anyone who doesn't prescribe to her narrow vision of what's right and what's wrong. This gets her a decent amount of attention at her small town high school for a while until a serial killer from the past shows back up and she has to figure out another way to get attention even if it means murder.

You have to give actress Meredith Mohler and writer/director Chris Moore a hand for daring to create such a narcissistic and selfish character and placing her as the lead in a film. It's to their credit that she remains watchable and interesting even when she's doing the most wicked of things. If Mohler plays her cards right, I could see her having a big future.

The rest of the cast is good as well, but they're given less to work with and can come across more like cartoons, which does fit with the tone of the film, so that's not really a negative. The only ones who get fully fleshed out characters are Jesse Dalton and Amanda Wyss who play Callee's long-suffering gay BFF and her alcoholic school principal with a dark past of her own. They're the only two truly sympathetic characters in the film and they do a wonderful job of grounding the film when it starts getting crazy.

The film was obviously made for about 3 cents, but this is one of those times when a low budget helps a film and gives it an unpolished early John Waters feel which seems to be what the creators are going for and, more often than not, they succeed. There's also a surprising amount of male nudity instead of the typical female nudity found in films like this and it's also a positive portrait of a gay teen that's not the usual coming out story or bullying story.

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.

If Todd Solondz and John Waters were given $15 to make a movie and decided to do a slasher flick with some of the most bizarre and borderline unlikable characters I've ever seen, it might look and sound something like this. I'm going to need a whole spin off movie with Callee's weirdo mother. She's the one of the strangest slasher film characters since Aunt Martha in Sleepaway Camp.

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.