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Movies like The Trigger Effect

Key Features:
Social breakdown, Survival, Moral dilemma, Chaos, Predatory behavior, Ethical dilemmas, Human nature, Anarchy, Thriller, Violence-moderate
Tone:
serious, suspense-driven, gritty
Target Audience:
Thriller fans, Dystopian fiction enthusiasts, Viewers interested in social commentary, Those who enjoy suspenseful narratives
Emotional Arc:
Anxiety → Fear → Desperation

The Trigger Effect

1996-08-30
The Trigger Effect Poster - Find Similar Movies

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.

Genres
Drama, Thriller
Cast
Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, Dermot Mulroney, Richard T. Jones, Bill Smitrovich, Michael Rooker, Tori Kristiansen, Tyra Kristiansen, Rick Worthy, Edhem Barker
Crew
David Koepp, David Koepp
Rating
5.7(114 votes)
The Trigger EffectThe Trigger Effect
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The Divide
5.9

Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.



The Blackout
6.468

Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from space. What military forces find outside the ring is shocking.



The Blackout
5.775

A debauched Hollywood movie actor tries to piece together one wild night in Miami years earlier which remains a drug-induced blur, and soon finds out that some questions about his past are best left unanswered.



Mom and Dad
5.402

In a suburban community, moms and dads, one after the other, mysteriously feel the irresistible impulse to attack and kill their own offspring.



The Shadow Effect

A young man's life is turned upside down when his violent dreams begin to blend with reality.



F
F(2010)
6.106

A group of teachers must defend themselves from a gang of murderous kids when their school comes under siege after hours.



Blindness
Blindness(2008)
6.5

When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.



Asylum Blackout
5.664

A group of cooks at an asylum for the criminally insane get locked in with the inmates during a massive thunderstorm



Deranged
Deranged(2012)
6.6

People binge eat and suffer from extreme thirst, which leads them to go crazy for water. They cannot control themselves because they are brainwashed by a parasite.



Urge
Urge(2016)
4.307

A group of friends on holiday on an island experiment with a new designer drug that makes them lose their ability to control their urges.



The Hunt
The Hunt(2020)
6.628

Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are—or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted turns the tables on her pursuers.



Restraint
Restraint(2008)
5.946

Two fugitives land in hot water when they take a hostage who poses a threat to their well-being.



Triggered
Triggered(2020)
5.234

Nine friends, all harboring a dark secret, go camping in the woods. After a wild night of partying, they wake up with suicide bombs strapped to their chests, all with varying times on their countdown clocks. They decide to work out how to disarm the bombs or find help - until they discover they can 'take' one another's time by killing each other.



The Steam Experiment
4.217

A deranged scientist locks 6 people in a steam room and threatens to turn up the heat if the local paper doesn't publish his story about global warming.



The Signal
5.9

A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.



Leave the World Behind

A family's getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices—and two strangers appear at their door.



The Crazies
6.3

Four friends find themselves trapped in their small hometown after they discover their friends and neighbors going quickly and horrifically insane.



Dark Touch
5.067

Niamh is the lone survivor of a mysterious massacre in which the furniture and objects in her family’s isolated house took on a monstrous life of their own. The police ignore her wild stories, and the neighbours and social worker who take her into their care try to introduce her to a new life. But Niamh is unable to leave her violent past behind her, endangering everyone who crosses her path.



Hunger
Hunger(2009)
5.2

Five strangers face the unthinkable when they wake up and find themselves trapped. With no idea how they got there they frantically try to figure out how to escape. The disoriented group quickly realise the truth about their situation when they discover another room containing enough water to survive for 30 days… and a razor sharp surgical knife. The intention becomes quite clear. Whoever put them in this place wants to see just how long it will take before the hunger makes them commit unspeakable acts and cross a very deadly line.



Domain
Domain(2017)
5.702

After a deadly virus wipes out most of humanity, the survivors are forced to wait alone in self-sustaining bunkers while the viral threat runs its course. Able to communicate through a networked video interface, the survivors wait for years and slowly become a motley family of sorts. But their fragile social ecosystem is shattered when, one by one, they start mysteriously disappearing from their bunkers.



Us
Us(2019)
7

Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends. But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.



Higher Power
5.1

When the Universe decides what it wants, it's pointless to resist. With his family's life at stake, Joseph Steadman finds himself the unwilling test subject of a maniacal scientist in a battle that could save the world – or destroy it.



Rampage
Rampage(2009)
5.947

The boredom of small town life is eating Bill Williamson alive. Feeling constrained and claustrophobic in the meaningless drudgery of everyday life and helpless against overwhelming global dissolution, Bill begins a descent into madness. His shockingly violent plan will shake the very foundations of society by painting the streets red with blood.



The Experiment
6.386

20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.



Spontaneous Combustion

A young man learns that his parents had been used in an atomic-weapons experiment shortly before his birth, and that the results have had some unexpected effects on him.



The Happening
5.4

When a deadly airborne virus threatens to wipe out the northeastern United States, teacher Elliot Moore and his wife Alma flee from contaminated cities into the countryside in a fight to discover the truth. Is it terrorism, the accidental release of some toxic military bio weapon -- or something even more sinister?



State of Emergency
5.389

Chaos consumes a small town when a chemical facility explodes releasing a deadly toxin. Moments after the leak, the town's residents show signs of mutation, causing the military to quarantine the area leaving any survivors helpless and trapped inside. The story follows Jim, a young man isolated within the red zone, as he eludes flesh eating zombies in an attempt to win back his freedom.



Deadly Virtues: Love. Honour. Obey.

A home invasion irrevocably changes the lives of all involved in ways neither victims nor perpetrator could have imagined



The Victim
4.75

Annie's life is in jeopardy after she's witnessed the horrific rape and murder of her closest friend. Fleeing from two attackers she stumbles across Kyle, a recluse living in the middle of the woods. Kyle finds the stillness of the woods comforting. The ruggedly handsome loner stays far from civilization - that is - until a single knock on his door throws his solitary life into chaos.



Infinite Storm
5.743

One woman's journey for self-discovery and turns into a harrowing tale of survival.



Trigger Warning
5.725

A Special Forces commando uncovers a dangerous conspiracy when she returns to her hometown looking for answers into her beloved father's death.



The Chain Reaction
5.481

Contaminated by a nuclear-plant spill, an Australian worker hides with a woman and tries to warn the public.



Circle
Circle(2015)
6.011

In a massive, mysterious chamber, fifty strangers awaken to find themselves trapped with no memory of how they got there. Organized in an inward-facing circle and unable to move, they quickly learn that every two minutes, one of them must die…executed by a strange device in the center of the room.



Recoil
Recoil(2012)
5.778

A cop turns vigilante after his family is murdered, exacting vengeance on the killers - and then on all criminals who have slipped through the system.



The Show
The Show(2017)
5.7

An unsettling look at reality television, where a disturbing game show has its contestants ending their lives for the public's enjoyment.



Burn
Burn(2019)
6.048

Lonely, unstable gas station attendant Melinda is tired of being overshadowed by her more confident, outgoing co-worker Sheila. When the gas station is held up at gunpoint by Billy, a desperate man in need of quick cash, Melinda finds an opportunity to make a connection with the robber, regardless of who gets hurt.



Arctic Void
5.1

When the power mysteriously fails, and almost everyone vanishes from a small tourist vessel in the Arctic, fear becomes the master for the three who remain. Forced ashore, the men deteriorate in body and mind until a dark truth emerges that compels them to ally or perish.



The Day
The Day(2011)
5.125

Open war against humanity rages. For five survivors – lost and on the run – the pursuit is relentless, the bullets are dwindling and the battle is everywhere. This is a 24-hour look into their lives.



Outrage
Outrage(1950)
6.5

A young woman who has just become engaged has her life completely shattered when she is raped while on her way home from work.



The Purge: Anarchy
6.628

One night per year, the government sanctions a 12-hour period in which citizens can commit any crime they wish -- including murder -- without fear of punishment or imprisonment. Leo, a sergeant who lost his son, plans a vigilante mission of revenge during the mayhem. However, instead of a death-dealing avenger, he becomes the unexpected protector of four innocent strangers who desperately need his help if they are to survive the night.



The Incident
7.354

Two hoodlums terrorize the passengers of a late-night New York City subway train.



Cheap Thrills
6.4

Recently fired and facing eviction, a new dad has his life turned upside down when he meets a wealthy couple who offer a path to financial security... but at a price.



Disconnect
7.058

A hard-working lawyer, attached to his cell phone, can't find the time to communicate with his family. An estranged couple uses the internet as a means to escape from their lifeless marriage. A widowed ex-cop struggles to raise a mischievous son who cyber-bullies a classmate. An ambitious journalist sees a career-making story in a teen that performs on an adult-only site. They are strangers, neighbors and colleagues and their stories collide as ordinary people struggling to connect in today's wired world.



The Block Island Sound

Something lurks off the coast of Block Island, silently influencing the behavior of fisherman, Tom Lynch. After suffering a series of violent outbursts, he unknowingly puts his family in grave danger.



Blindfire
Blindfire(2020)
6.7

A police officer who while responding to a violent hostage call, kills the African American suspect only to later learn of his innocence. Sensing this was a set-up, and facing repercussions, he must track down the person responsible while examining his own accountability and the ingrained racism which brought him to this point.



Survive the Night
4.8

A disgraced doctor and his family are held hostage at their home by criminals on the run, when a robbery-gone-awry requires them to seek immediate medical attention.



Squirm
Squirm(1976)
4.907

A violent electrical storm topples power lines into the rain soaked earth that is home for an aggressive breed of worms. The high voltage causes the worms to mutate into larger, hostile hordes of man-eating worms that lie in wait for the residents of Fly Creek.



What We Become
5.5

A family of four is quarantined in their home as a virulent strand of the flu spreads into town and they are forced to the extreme to escape alive.



Skyline
Skyline(2010)
5

When strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, people are drawn outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth. Now the band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them.



Last Survivors
5.3

The pic is set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event that forces people into extreme isolation. A father and son, who have been living off grid for 20 years, encounter an outsider who threatens to destroy the utopia they’ve built.



Containment
5.972

Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?



Alone in the Dark
5.8

A quartet of murderous psychopaths break out of a mental hospital during a power blackout and lay siege to their doctor's house.



The Flu
The Flu(2013)
7.527

A case of the flu quickly morphs into a pandemic. As the death toll mounts and the living panic, the government plans extreme measures to contain it.



No Exit
No Exit(2022)
6.9

Stranded at a rest stop in the mountains during a blizzard, a recovering addict discovers a kidnapped child hidden in a car belonging to one of the people inside the building which sets her on a terrifying struggle to identify who among them is the kidnapper.



Trigger Point
6.2

Nicolas Shaw is a retired U.S. special operative who becomes part of an elite 'invisible' team that quietly takes out the worst villains around the world.



The Plague
4.815

Ten years have passed since the world's children fell into a coma. Tonight they're waking up and all hell is breaking loose. An unholy battle between the generations is being waged, and time is not on the side of adults.



Survival Family
7.266

A world wide electrical outage occurs. Everything that requires electricity comes to a stop. Tokyo is nearly ruined. Yoshiyuki Suzuki decides to escape from Tokyo with his family.



The Wave
The Wave(1981)
6.9

A teacher conducts an experiment in an American high school where students learn how easy it is to be seduced by the same social forces which led to the horrors of Nazi Germany.



Contagion
Contagion(2011)
6.6

As an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.



Sudden Impact
6.6

When a young rape victim takes justice into her own hands and becomes a serial killer, it's up to Dirty Harry Callahan, on suspension from the SFPD, to bring her to justice.



The Fallout
7.5

In the wake of a school tragedy, Vada, Mia and Quinton form a unique and dynamic bond as they navigate the never linear, often confusing journey to heal in a world that feels forever changed.



The Minus Man
5.37

When the quiet and amiable Vann Siegert drifts into town, no one suspects the evil that lies beneath the surface. Despite his easy charm, Vann is merely a reflection of what those he encounters want him to be. Soon, as locals start to disappear, it becomes clear that an eerie subtraction is at work in the sleepy hamlet.



Donovan's Echo
6.007

A series of uncanny déjà vu events force a man to re-examine his tragic past, memory, instinct, and future.



Surge
Surge(2020)
5.3

A man goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation through London. After he robs a bank he releases a wilder version of himself, ultimately experiencing what it feels like to be alive.



Cell
Cell(2016)
4.7

When a strange signal pulsates through all cell phone networks worldwide, it starts a murderous epidemic of epic proportions when users become bloodthirsty creatures, and a group of people in New England are among the survivors to deal with the ensuing chaos after.



DEFCON-4
DEFCON-4(1985)
4.4

Two men and a woman circle the globe in a satellite armed with a nuclear device. The third world war breaks out, and a few months later the satellite crashes. They survive the crash but one man gets killed by survivors and the other man gets caught. The woman stays by the remains of the the satellite but is soon caught by evil punks who have taken power.



Coming Home in the Dark

A school teacher is forced to confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of ruthless drifters takes him and his family on a nightmare road-trip.



Mayhem
Mayhem(2017)
6.5

A virus spreads through an office complex causing white collar workers to act out their worst impulses.



The Zone
The Zone(2007)
6.346

Residents of an enclosed neighborhood in the middle of Mexico DF are shocked by a violent crime, and for one resident in particular, young Alejandro, the drama is ratcheted up when he encounters the lone kid who escaped the event and is hiding out within the neighborhood's borders.



After the Pandemic
5.1

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where a global airborne pandemic has wiped out 90% of the Earth's population and only the young and immune have endured as scavengers. For Ellie and Quinn, the daily challenges to stay alive are compounded when they become hunted by the merciless Stalkers.



Vanishing on 7th Street

A mysterious global blackout yields countless populations to simply vanish, leaving only their clothes and possessions behind. A small handful of survivors band together in a dimly-lit tavern on 7th Street, struggling to combat the apocalyptic horror. Realizing they may in fact be the last people on earth, a dark shadow hones in on them alone.



Daylight's End
5.8

Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.



Blackout
Blackout(2022)
5.028

A man wakes in a hospital with no memory, and quickly finds himself on the run in a locked down hospital with the Cartel on his tail.



Global Meltdown
5.9

A helicopter pilot and an environmental scientist lead a exodus of survivors in a search for a safe haven after a catastrophic tectonic event causes the crust of the earth to break apart.



Die
Die(2010)
4.672

Six people, each of them is on the road to self-destruction. They wake up in cells in a surreal facility, without knowing how they got there or why.



Open 24 Hours
5.523

After setting her serial killer boyfriend on fire, a paranoid delusional woman gets a job at an all-night gas station. The isolation triggers her anxiety and hallucinations, with devastatingly gory results.



The Crash
The Crash(2017)
4.536

In the not so distant future, a team of white collar criminals are enlisted by the Federal government to thwart a cyber-attack that threatens to bankrupt the United States of America.



Let Us Prey
5.739

Rachel, a rookie cop, is about to begin her first night shift in a neglected police station in a Scottish, backwater town. The kind of place where the tide has gone out and stranded a motley bunch of the aimless, the forgotten, the bitter-and-twisted who all think that, really, they deserve to be somewhere else. They all think they're there by accident and that, with a little luck, life is going to get better. Wrong, on both counts. Six is about to arrive - and All Hell Will Break Loose!



100 Degrees Below Zero

After freak climate and weather events destroy the world around them, a group of rogue scientists attempt to reverse the deadly new ice age.



The Guilty
6.427

A demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.



America Latina
6.1

Massimo Sisti is a reputable professional with a nice house, a happy marriage, and two loving daughters, whose life is turned upside down when one day he finds a little girl tied up in his basement.



They Live
They Live(1988)
7.3

A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.



Chain Reaction
4.794

A prison bus with over a dozen criminals on board has an accident and rams another car, in which Dr. Douglas Madsen was on his way home. Most of the prisoners die. Four of them survive, one of them severely injured. After having killed all the guards, they head for the woods. They take Dr. Douglas Madsen hostage. Suddenly a huge house appears in the middle of the woods. The leader of the group, Arthur, emphasizes that he will kill Douglas and every single member of the "family" if his wounded brother would die. Meanwhile some members of the family show strange behavior, and very soon mayhem breaks loose.



Kill Switch
4.867

A pilot battles to save his family and the planet after an experiment for unlimited energy goes wrong.



October Gale
5.014

A doctor takes in a mysterious man who washes ashore at her remote cottage with a gunshot wound. Quickly they both learn the killer has arrived to finish the job, while a storm has cut them off from the mainland.



Anesthesia
5.712

Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.



Savageland
6.8

When a small town near the Arizona-Mexico border is wiped out overnight, suspicion falls on the lone survivor. But a roll of photos the survivor took that night tells a different story.



American Hangman
6.016

An unidentified man posts a live feed on social media showing that he has kidnapped two strangers and intends to kill one before the day is out. His intention is to hold a capital 'trial' online. As the authorities recognize what's happening, it becomes apparent that the online public is going to act as judge and jury.



Hangman
Hangman(2015)
4.753

Returning from vacation, the Miller family find their home has been broken into. After cleaning up the mess they continue with their lives, shaking off the feeling of being violated. But little do they know the nightmare has just begun.



Involuntary
6.5

In several unrelated stories, the consequences of putting one's foot down – or failing to do so – are explored.



Storm Warning
5.5

A couple becomes lost in a massive storm and seek refuge at a nearby farmhouse, only to be captured by deranged killers.



Civil War
Civil War(2024)
6.852

In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.



Arctic Blast
5.7

When a solar eclipse sends a colossal blast of super chilled air towards the earth, it then sets off a catastrophic chain of events that threatens to engulf the world in ice and begin a new Ice Age.



The Survivalist
6.234

In a time of starvation, a survivalist lives off a small plot of land hidden deep in forest. When two women seeking food and shelter discover his farm, he finds his existence threatened.



Human Capital
5.67

Ian begins a relationship with Drew's daughter, who works in the financial sector. The couple gets involved in a tragic accident that will change their lives forever. At the same time, the accident has a major impact on both their families who, despite the class difference, cross paths.



A History of Violence
7.159

An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.



The Black Hole
4.5

It's 2 A.M. in St. Louis when a routine scientific experiment goes terribly wrong and an explosion shakes the city. A scientific team investigates, clashing with an intergalactic, voltage-devouring creature that vaporizes them.



The Day After
6.8

In the mid-1980s, the U.S. is poised on the brink of nuclear war. This shadow looms over the residents of a small town in Kansas as they continue their daily lives. Dr. Russell Oakes maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlberg prepares for her upcoming wedding, and Stephen Klein is deep in his graduate studies. When the unthinkable happens and the bombs come down, the town's residents are thrust into the horrors of nuclear winter.



The Boy
The Boy(2015)
5.7

An intimate portrait of a 9 year old sociopath as he discovers his taste for killing.

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