Tribeca Film Festival – With the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, Triggered will undoubtedly be a tough short for some viewers. It’s a home invasion thriller centered around gun violence, and it manages to speak to our collective rage and sorrow. Two parents, whose children were victims of shootings, take matters into their own hands, leading to an ending that’s startling and shocking. You don’t think the short will go there until it suddenly does.

Directed by Tara Westwood and written by Thomas Dunn, the film opens as the grieving parents, Ohio (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Virginia (Caitlin Mehner), stake out a sitting U.S. senator’s house. The senator, played by Westood, and her character’s hubby, David (Robert John Burke), are forced to stand in a circle in the living room and not move a single inch. Initially, it’s unclear what the invaders want, but when Virginia dumps out half a bottle of pills on the counter and chugs wine, it’s clear she’s harboring some secret pain. Eventually, in very explicit detail, she tells the story of her son, who died after finding his dad’s gun in the trunk of his car. Then, we learn that Ohio’s kid died in a mass shooting that killed 13. I can’t stress enough how well Whitlock and Mehner play off of each other, as their characters point guns at the senator and her hubs. Each shows a rollercoaster range of emotions in less than 20 minutes, all of it justified.

The dialogue here is all too real. Mehner’s performance especially is mesmerizing and forceful. You sense her character will snap at any moment, and who can blame her?  Her pain causes her to take drastic action, especially in the film’s closing minute. So much of this short will resonate. Ohio lashes out at the senator for constantly offering thoughts and prayers while voting down legislation that would create meaningful change. This is especially resonant while the senate is in the middle of negotiating a watered-down bill that may not even make it to the floor for a vote. Ohio and Virginia’s anguish and grief hit hard, as this country reels from recent shootings.

Triggered comes at just the right time, but emotions may be a little too raw right now for some viewers. After what we’ve seen over the last few weeks, you can’t blame two grieving parents for taking action, driven to an extreme point. The short’s ending astonishes simply because it’s willing to go there. This film touches a nerve. It’s 18 minutes of righteous fury caused by profound loss and political inaction.

7 Out of 10