Trigger Point parents guide

Trigger Point Parent Guide

This feels like a sequel to a film that doesn't exist.

Overall D

Digital on Demand: Nicolas Shaw ended his career in special forces after he was captures and tortured. But now that his former colleagues have started disappearing, Shaw finds himself drawn back into the dangerous and traumatic world of international operations.

Release date April 16, 2021

Violence D
Sexual Content D
Profanity D
Substance Use C

Why is Trigger Point rated Not Rated? The MPAA rated Trigger Point Not Rated

Run Time: 112 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Lewis (Barry Pepper) is a popular man about town in his small community in upstate New York …but the residents have no idea that their helpful, mild-mannered neighbor is not, in fact Lewis, but highly lethal special operative Nicolas Shaw. He’s been lying low following his capture and torture by people he can’t quite remember, and enjoying his quiet, if paranoid, existence. When Elias (Colm Feore), a former colleague, turns up, Nicolas learns that he is the only surviving member of his team, the rest of whom have been eliminated by a mysterious assassin. Working with Elias takes a great deal of trust on both sides, but Nicolas believes it may be the only way to stay alive. Even then, the world of secrets and spies is not conducive to long alliances, and the more Nicolas remembers of his past, the more he wonders about his new partner.

Trigger Point feels like a sequel to a film that doesn’t exist. I’m not one to beg for exposition in my action thrillers, but I would greatly appreciate… well, any exposition at this point. It certainly made me more sympathetic to the protagonist’s memory loss, but even he had a better grasp on what was going on than I did. There are characters and organizations and dynamics that are clearly important to the story but which the movie never bothers to properly introduce or explain.

Negative content, as you might expect, is primarily centered on violent shootings, with a few depictions of torture sprinkled in just to keep you awake. Not that violence is the only problem. A rather unscrupulous interview with an even more unscrupulous underworld figure shows prostitution, sex toys, and of course, nipple pasties. You know, just to break up the violence for a minute. There are also around 30 sexual expletives, which is lower than I had expected but still higher than, say, my mother would be entirely comfortable with.

For all that, this film isn’t a total loss, only because the action is quick, interesting, and creative. Maybe I just like Barry Pepper too much to completely condemn the movie, because otherwise it is a real mess. I have very little idea what actually happened or what anyone was hoping to accomplish, and that’s after reading 2 synopses, watching the trailer, and then watching the movie. If you can patch this together, you’re doing better than me…or, more likely, you’re the screenwriter, because I don’t see how anybody else could be expected to know what’s happening.

Directed by Brad Turner. Starring Barry Pepper, Eve Harlow, and Carlo Rota. Running time: 112 minutes. Theatrical release April 16, 2021. Updated

Watch the trailer for Trigger Point

Trigger Point
Rating & Content Info

Why is Trigger Point rated Not Rated? Trigger Point is rated Not Rated by the MPAA

Violence: There are frequent scenes of people being shot, most of them fatally. One wound is cauterized, and the burned wound is shown. There are references to and depictions of torture, primarily waterboarding. An individual is struck in the head with an ax and killed.
Sexual Content: A female character is seen walking around in little more than nipple pasties. There is a brief scene depicting sex on a small screen, although it did not appear to include graphic nudity. There is a graphic depiction of a large collection of sex toys.
Profanity: There are 31 sexual expletives, three scatological curses, and infrequent mild profanities and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters are seen drinking and smoking tobacco. Drugs are seen but not consumed. An individual is unwillingly injected with strong drugs during torture.

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Personal fans of Barry Pepper might enjoy Saving Private Ryan or, more recently, Crawl. If you’re looking for this kind of underworld action, I would recommend either the John Wick films (primarily Chapter 2, but the original and Parabellum are also good) or the Bourne Trilogy (which is composed of The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum).