The Trigger Effect
The Trigger Effect

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- 57/100 based on 7,968 votes

How tenuous is man's hold on civilization when survival becomes an issue? When the lights go out and stay out for several days, suburbanites Matthew and Annie learn the hard way that man is "by nature" a predatory creature. Matthew's long-time friend, Joe, happens by on the second day and a rivalry between the two friends simmers as Annie cares for her sick baby. When rumors of looting spread through the neighborhood, the two men buy a shotgun for protection but Annie throws ... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in The Trigger Effect:

Kyle MacLachlan
Elisabeth Shue
Dermot Mulroney
Richard T. Jones
Bill Smitrovich
Michael Rooker

Full Plot Details

How tenuous is man's hold on civilization when survival becomes an issue? When the lights go out and stay out for several days, suburbanites Matthew and Annie learn the hard way that man is "by nature" a predatory creature. Matthew's long-time friend, Joe, happens by on the second day and a rivalry between the two friends simmers as Annie cares for her sick baby. When rumors of looting spread through the neighborhood, the two men buy a shotgun for protection but Annie throws it in the pool. Later, that same night, Joe hears a prowler downstairs and awakens Matthew. They chase the stranger from the house and out into the street where a neighbor shoots him to death. No longer safe in their own home, they decide to drive to Annie's parents some 500 miles away. Before they reach their destination, more trouble comes their way when they stop to siphon gas from an abandoned car and discover the driver in the back seat... Is this what is meant by "man's inhumanity to man?

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Movie Reviews

Entertainment Weekly - 8/10 by Lisa SchwarzbaumUntil he wraps things up much too neatly and idealistically, Koepp puts together a sturdy and efficient thriller.
Austin Chronicle - 8/10 by Marc SavlovKoepp's film examines the interconnections between man and the electronic society, and the terrors that are unleashed once those connections are severed, and does so in a wholly original and unnerving manner.
Boston Globe - 8/10 by Jay CarrDespite conflicted circumstances, the cast is capable, but there's a feeling of loose ends, an overall lack of cohesiveness to this good-looking film. The Trigger Effect is on-target when it comes to the ills of modern society but is charged with ambivalence as to what makes a hero.
The New York Times - 7/10 by Janet MaslinDirected with a spare look and exceptional crispness and precision, The Trigger Effect ultimately falls back on the familiar, especially in its banal ideas of how Matt and Annie are changed by their experience. But during the three-day emergency that it describes, this cleverly made film sustains a spooky intensity and an insinuating, utterly confident style.
Washington Post - 6/10 by Desson ThomsonThe Trigger Effect enjoys bursts of energy as people confront each other in low-budget groups of twos and threes, but it never becomes the subtly powerful experience Koepp was clearly after.
Philadelphia Inquirer - 6/10 by Steven ReaDavid Koepp's writing-helming bow is a bleak, highly stylized view of modern civilization. While The Trigger Effect maintains a potent mood of postmodern dread, even its proponents will be wondering what all the queasy fuss was about.
ReelViews - 6/10 by James BerardinelliTo the extent that The Trigger Effect is intended as a tense, somewhat nerve-wracking thriller, it's adequate, and certainly better than the formula-driven likes of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle.
Washington Post - 5/10 by Richard HarringtonThe Trigger Effect feels half-cocked, undermined by its apparently very low budget and Koepp's flaccid directing.
Baltimore Sun - 5/10 by Stephen HunterOnce the movie settles down to story, it turns out to play like an extended Twilight Zone episode that merely reiterates the theme of the first few minutes: that man is fundamentally a beast and he must struggle endlessly against his own worst instincts and that each victory over those instincts is merely provisional.
User Review - 10/10 by Samuel BTruly an overlooked gem, does anyone remember this movie? If you were in Toronto or elsewhere during the 2003 North American Blackout (I wasn't!) then I highly recommend this movie!

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