‘Trigger Warning’ movie review: A convincing Jessica Alba packs a punch in this efficient actioner

Jessica Alba as Parker in ‘Trigger Warning’
| Photo Credit: Netflix

Trigger Warning is the kind of movie you expect nothing from and are pleasantly surprised if you are in the frame of mind to be jollied along for a hectic ride. The action is happily unrelenting from start to finish. We begin at the mandatory anonymous desert with a chase and flying bullets. Special Forces commando Parker (Jessica Alba) efficiently disposes of the nameless bad guys.

There is bad news waiting for Parker as her father, Harry, (Alejandro De Hoyos) has died suddenly. She returns to her hometown of Creation (really) to find she has inherited the family bar as well as a bunch of secrets and lies. She meets her former boyfriend and now sheriff, Jesse, (Mark Webber) to make sense of her father’s death who died in an explosion in a mine. Parker is surprised by that as Harry knew the mine well, having made it a comfortable den, as a character says, “he made a man cave in a cave.”

There are new cameras installed at the mine and once Parker tells her covert ops partner and hacker, Spider (Tone Bell) to have a look at the footage, things begin to happen. Jesse’s brother Elvis (Jake Weary) and father Senator Swann (Anthony Michael Hall) might have something to do with the evil doings at Creation. Mike, (Gabriel Basso) who makes weed, is one more person Parker can count on for help.

There is a threat to security, another almost nameless terrorist, lots of explosions and firefights and a wee bit of torture before all comes well in the end, which we hear over the radio. By introducing Indonesian knife fighting, first-time director Mouly Surya along with Alba adds a level of intimacy to the action.

(L-R) Jessica Alba as Parker and Tone Bell as Spider in ‘Trigger Warning’
| Photo Credit:
Ursula Coyote/Netflix

Alba puts conviction into her Parker, who is a combination of Jack Reacher and John Rambo, with a spot of John Wick. Like the aforementioned nomadic tough guys, Parker also lands up in a small town in the middle of nowhere and unearths a big conspiracy with a mixture of brawn and brain.

She is sensible enough to braid her hair when she goes chasing after bad guys, which as we all know is the sign of a serious warrior — look at Furiosa and Ripley, who shaved their heads so that their tresses will not come in the way of bringing the bad guys/ xenomorphs down.

Trigger Warning does not deserve all the hate it is getting. It is an efficient action movie, led by a believable Alba. It could have been better, sure, but it is not so hideous that you would want to poke your eyes out either.

Trigger Warning is currently streaming on Netflix