The Trigger Effect

1996 "When Nothing Works, Anything Goes."
5.7| 1h34m| R| en| More Info
Released: 30 August 1996 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A blackout leaves those affected to consider what is necessary, what is legal, and what is questionable, in order to survive in a predatory environment.

Genre

Drama, Thriller

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The Trigger Effect (1996) is now streaming with subscription on Starz on Hulu

Director

David Koepp

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

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The Trigger Effect Audience Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Steve Pulaski The Trigger Effect is a movie I'm not proud to like, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't. It wasn't a fantastic thriller, but it shouldn't get the beating it's getting on IMDb, Netflix, and every other review site. The acting isn't phenomenal, the plot isn't much, but the events in the film keep you at least interesting and hoping for the best. In the long run, The Trigger Effect is not the worst thing to come out of movies ever.Sometimes, I believe, when a movie is panned by critics and moviegoers, a film gets bad reviews by everyone whether they like it or not. I looked on the IMDb Bottom 100 before writing this review, and thought, there's got to be one person out there that likes some of these films. I scanned about twenty, and the twenty I picked had no review above two out of ten. My point; not everyone can hate a movie. It can't be so bad no one likes it. This is kind of how I feel with this film and the 1996 comedy Bio-Dome which I found to be an entertaining film. The only difference with The Trigger Effect is I could find someone who liked Bio-Dome. I have yet to find someone that (honestly) admits they like The Trigger Effect.The film has no real plot. It takes place in Southern California where our two protagonists reside. Matt (Kyle MacLachlan) and Annie (Elizabeth Shue) return home from the movies to find their infant screaming with an ear ache. Matt calls a doctor who promises to have a prescription filled by morning. In the middle of the night, the neighbors wake to find a the town has blacked out. Matt arrives at the pharmacy to find out the doctor didn't call in the prescription, so he resorts to stealing the medicine for the baby.Matt's brother Joe (Dermot Mulroney) arrives at the house to convince the couple to buy a gun for security since the blackout is causing very strange behavior amongst the town. When purchasing the gun, the four come to the consensus that they must take a trip to wife's parent's house. Soon enough, all hell breaks loose.The film is no masterpiece, but it shouldn't get the beating it is taking on the web now. It's a very least intriguing. You want to know what happens to these innocent people. You want to follow them through this journey through hell. As most of these events occur, they trigger another thing to happen (obviously why the film's title is what it is). Clearly the person behind this idea wanted no light at the end of the tunnel. Just like the film Where the Heart Is or The Quiet, they wanted no light at the end of the tunnel.Upon it's release, it grossed a mere $1,887,791, and ranked 12th at the Box Office. It came up very short compared to it's $8,000,000 budget. It went on to gross around $3,000,000 in it's entirety, and lead on to never being spoken about again. While I think in no means it should be praised, it should at least be recognized for doing the job it did. It didn't want to be bad, but then again no movie does. It just showed it's limitations on screen, and nothing more. It doesn't want to be anything more than it's budget allows. It's a good thing and a bad thing simultaneously.Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, and Dermot Mulroney. Directed by: David Koepp.
Vomitron_G Why I couldn't recall practically anything from this film, is really beyond me. I saw it once during the late 90's, and the only thing I still remembered was that I thought it was pretty good. With this second time viewing, I can only conclude the same thing: It's beyond me, as this really is a fine film and pretty memorable while at it too. A blackout causes fear and distress in a small city. In the suburbs, the inhabitants of one street try to make the best of it. When a burglar breaks into Matthew & Annie's house, someone dies. And things go from bad to worse. And from a small town thriller with various characters, into a sudden road-movie with three protagonists taking the lead and an unpleasant (but worthwhile) Michael Rooker popping up by surprise. A cool little thriller that keeps you on your toes, towards an ending that's not all that horrible as you might expect it to be. Especially Kyle MacLachlan & Elisabeth Shue (as Matthew & Annie) give fine performances, though sadly Shue's character (splendidly portrayed in the first half) becomes a bit under-used in the second part of the movie. Still, check out this film if you have the chance. Reading some of the harsher comments on here, I wonder what people were expecting from this film... A profound piece of emotional drama? A Tarantino-like blabber-fest with many über-cool characters? Whatever. I didn't know what to expect - even this second time - and "The Trigger Effect" had me once again entertained. The characters were okay, the leads were fine, well-photographed and it turned out to be a sort of 'two-in-one' kind of deal. At least you get to choose which half of the film you liked better.
richard_sleboe Mayhem and bloodshed hang in the air as darkness is cast upon suburban Sacramento. "The Trigger Effect" could go in many commonplace directions from the initial blackout. Violence, destruction, an urban inferno of sorts. But none of that. The script avoids all the obvious traps and takes us straight to the heart of a far-from-perfect marriage, by way of the dusty California road. As the late Princess of Wales once put it: "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." All the lead characters feel like real people, not like the usual variables in a screenwriters equation: Matthew (Kyle MacLachlan, of "Blue Velvet" fame), Annie (Elizabeth Shue), Dermot Mulroney's Joe as the third one in the marriage, and Richard T. Jones as the mysterious stranger. This is a grown-up movie for grown-up people. Much like in life itself, there is no easy way out.
lazesmelita People do things that are considered crazy all the time in normal functioning society, with all the comforts that come with it and make life more bearable. Someone pisses you off? Ah, to hell with it, you go and have a nice cold one, turn on the TV, and watch seinfeld deliver sugarcoated antisocial commentary resonating perfectly with your state of mind. But what if you couldn't have a cold one, couldn't see your TV friend agree with you, and would have to face the events of the day much earlier as the nightly electrical distractions become unavailable? Then you have "the trigger effect". Many people find it far fetched, conceived, self-indulgent, frivolous. They do so out of their air-conditioned apartment, eating ready-made microwave popcorn, downloading music for free and waiting for the pizza guy to arrive.