Trigger Happy (2025)

-Written by Kyle Bain.

A husband, George Decker (Tyler Poelle), attempts to have his wife killed in order to collect on the insurance policy. Hijynx ensues, and nothing that George can come up with seems to be good enough. The longer he waits, the more Trigger Happy he becomes. Will his abusive wife meet her demise, or will poor George continue to live a tortured existence? 

Trigger Happy utilizes shock value to drive the narrative and to develop comedy. It’s effective in this regard, using what it has to create something accessible, and just funny enough to keep viewers engaged. Dream-like sequences depicting death, intentionally-outlandish dialogue, and hyperbolic characters help to create something unique and effectively funny. Trigger Happy feels like many of the lower-budget comedies that have come before it, though Writer-Director Tiffany Kim Stevens manages to develop something more effective than many of those films. While hyperbole is the primary vehicle for this film, Stevens manages to create something grounded as well–something that speaks to viewers and their humanity. This balance is what will ultimately appeal to viewers; what will allow them to remain engaged in George’s story–and, interestingly enough, empathize with him along the way. 

The issue with Trigger Happy, as is the issue with many comedies like this, is that it often becomes a bit too silly. There were more than a handful of times in which I found Stevens and Co-Writer Daniel Moya overstepped a tad, beyond its often grounded nature. In the moments where this occurs, I found myself drawn away from the narrative–as the comedy didn’t land as intended. Those moments in which the comedy falls flat, while they don’t happen often, Trigger Happy just doesn’t work. I wish that Stevens and Moya could have achieved more of a balance in regard to the comedy, but there are certainly instances in which the film is lacking. 

In a film like Trigger Happy, I feel that character development is one of the most important aspects (at least it should be). George feels complete, as if we’ve all met someone like him before–and he has a complete arc. His narrative is a tad fractured, and there were moments that felt out of place, even for his disjointed personality. Beyond George, however, I struggled to appreciate most of the others. George’s wife, Annie (Elsha Kim), is meant to be off putting, meant to represent many of the things wrong with society–however, she’s never presented in a way that allows viewers to appreciate her. She comes on far too strong at the start of Trigger Happy, and she never develops–remaining one dimensional throughout. 

Trigger Happy, as effective as it is in creating shocking content that reels viewers in, feels like your typical comedy that just doesn’t have all the tools it needs to find great success. The narrative is a bit fractured, lacking cohesion in areas where it was desperately needed, many of the characters were one dimensional and lacked any sort of arc, and then there were moments in which the comedy extends itself beyond reality and into something a bit too silly for my liking. At its core, Trigger Happy possesses something that I feel will appeal to viewers, but there are some kinks throughout that aren’t ever ironed out. After the first act of the film I was hoping for a bit more, but Trigger Happy sometimes feels stagnant and ineffective. 

Directed by Tiffany Kim Stevens. 

Written by Daniel Moya & Tiffany Kim Stevens. 

Starring Tyler Poelle, Elisha Kim, Christina Kirkman, Matt Lowe, Tre Hall, etc. 

6/10 = WATCH IT FOR FREE