Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

A1nut This movie illustrates a solid reason why prepping for bad situations is a good idea. It only takes two days of the power being off for people to begin turning on each other. If everyone had been prepared, that wouldn't have been an issue. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that everyone should build a bunker in their basement stocked with 20 years worth of food. But a two week supply of food, water and a weapon with which to defend yourself could be the difference between life and death in a situation like this.So, all in all, a mediocre movie with a strong message. It never hurts to be prepared.

Rodrigo Amaro What would you do if there was no kind of power, electricity in your city and you needed to do stuff, solve problems away? How people, society in general would react in such chaotic situation where nothing works? "The Trigger Effect" unique power is in touching such thoughtful matter that should be deeply thought in several possibilities. Too bad director/writer David Koepp ("Jurassic Park", "Secret Window") only dwindles in a soft "Twilight Zone" scheme pretending to be serious enough to make us fully interested. It works on a minor level of entertainment, due to the lack of brainy ideas. For the most part, it's a little depressing, somewhat ridiculous and strangely annoying.It begins in a dull presentation of characters where three main characters, a couple (Kyle MacLachlan and Elisabeth Shue) and a guy (Richard T. Jones) are introduced in all sorts of confusion while gathered in a movie theater. Only in the 1990's we can think of small misunderstandings happening with people accidentally stumbling on other people causing such disturbance and heated little arguments that seems to lead towards aggression. We in the 21st Century are somewhat more aware of people, that we never know who they might be and we avoid conflict in the best possible way unless if inevitable. One small push and those characters need to curse, start a fight over pointless matters. But, they were together when the power went down in the room, then returned and by the end of the day, it will fail again, this time for a long stressful time, no answers given.The couple's problem is finding medicine for their baby who's having some health issues. Breaking point for the father is to steal the medicine of a drugstore amidst the chaos and after fighting with the pharmacist simply because the guy "didn't like him" after (again!) small discussions. Their only assistance comes from a friend (Dermot Mulroney) who makes sure they're safe due to the violence threats, riots and robbery happening in the small town after the energy disaster. No news, no information, nothing is said about the incident and the situation gets worse by the hour. Another breaking point comes when a robber gets killed after trying to steal things from the couple's house, starting some deep ethical questions in our heads.The movie's major weakness is in having a weak character as the figure we're supposed to root for. It's not a case of bad acting since Kyle is quite good in it; the problem is that it was too annoying, and far exaggerated all the time he had to take some different action than he used to take. Doesn't convince. Also, all the trouble presented by Koepp that society would rise into pandemonium simply because they're stuck without power was far too one-sided, simplistic. He only touched the surface of the problem and that's it. And when he creates the problem it isn't all that interesting to see, in fact it's too damn unbelievable. The whole road situation and how they deal with Michael Rooker character were ridiculous, almost killed the movie. And his character should've been presented earlier in the movie and we should have the right to know his motivations for doing all what he does, menacing people. But no, he's just there to surprise us with what can be surprising since he always plays the same role of menacing tough guy.If we don't get stuck with the negative aspects of "The Trigger Effect" we can enjoy it because of the proposition given and the actors working on it. Those who hated the movie for its acting or lack of a good story are a little wrong about it. Fine, it's not the best work of many of the stars present in here but it's not that bad. Hands down as best acting to Bill Smitrovich playing MacLachlan's friendly and helpful neighbor. He's a great character actor you recognize for countless films, never knows the name but here he makes his presence quite notable, specially after the robbery incident. Best character of the movie, it's because of him the film gets more gripping and more questionable when it comes to judge people's actions amidst such strange turmoil of events.Not the best or the worst, it's right in the middle. A little mediocre but positively watchable specially on a night time. 6/10

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.

Lee Eisenberg As many people have said, "The Trigger Effect" is one of those movies that has a good concept, but isn't executed very well. The truth is, it actually gets kind of creepy. I know, if there was a massive power outage, maybe this could happen, but that doesn't make the movie any more interesting. If we're just going to obsess on the idea that everyone wants to kill each other, we're not doing very much for our society (remember what Michael Moore showed in "Bowling for Columbine"). I mean really.So, there are much better movies than this (including the "Twilight Zone" episode that this movie ripped off). Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, Dermot Mulroney and Michael Rooker should be at least mildly ashamed of themselves.