Triggered (2020) - The title made me laugh

'Triggered' is quite a nice idea for a film, or at least it would be if the 'Saw' franchise had never existed.  A group of friends wake up in the woods with timed explosives strapped to their chests, each device linked to the wearer’s remaining life span.  The man responsible tells them that only one can survive, before he promptly removes himself from the 'game.' 

If you’re in the mood for a lesser version of one of the 'Saw' films—complete with twisted rules and the fight-for-survival tension—you might find that 'Triggered' scratches that itch.  Unfortunately, while 'Triggered' has a nice title which makes me smile whenever I think of how it relates to the story, overall the way it plays out is not really that spectacular. 

There's not a lot of creativity when it comes to 'eliminating' each character and therefore also to keep the audience guessing. The deaths themselves are surprisingly uninspired, and once the basic setup is clear, the plot offers little more than watching each character run through their doomed fate. As a result, it can feel one-note, leaving the title itself as possibly the cleverest element of the whole movie.  

In the end, 'Triggered' doesn’t quite reach the heights of even the weakest 'Saw' entry, nor does it offer enough fresh twists to stand out in the survival horror genre. For fans in need of a quick, albeit shallow, fix of deadly thrills, it might be a passable watch.

5/10