AS LUCK WOULDN’T HAVE IT // A FILM REVIEW OF “TRIGGER HAPPY”
BY MATEO MORENO
One of my favorite kind of films are absurdist comedies. When done well, they can dig into the truth of the matter while being wildly strange and original. However, when done badly, they are a hot mess. I’m very happy to say that TRIGGER HAPPY, the new film by Tiffany Kim Stevens and Daniel Moya, is in the former category. It’s a dark satire for sure, taking pleasure in other characters pain and setting it in a 1950’s style aesthetic. The film follows George (Tyler Poelle) and his wife Annie (Elsha Kim), a married but not so happy couple. George hates his job, and his manager hates him. In fact, she takes true joy in cutting him down and demoting him. He doesn’t have much to him name and is essentially living in the hopes that his wife is going to hit it big with acting. Annie is an inspiring actor who’s focused on an upcoming audition for an infomercial style commercial, selling sponges. Annie dreams of the life of an actor and George stares at a billboard of paradise, dreaming of leaving it all behind and going to the Bahamas. After being inspired by a real life case he hears about, he decides that the only thing he can do to make some real money is to kill his wife Annie and collect the insurance money. A horrible plan from the beginning, George is prone to screw things up, and this isn’t going to be any exception, especially with another not-so-happy couple Gemma (Christina Kirkman) and Mikey (Matt Lowe).
Daniel Moya and Tiffany Kim Stevens do a great job of creating a unique and strange atmosphere that feels familiar but altogether different and odd. A woman on the street tells passerby’s that you can get health insurance but only if you purchase a gun is one of my favorite bizarro additions. Tyler Poelle and Elsha Kim are both really great here, with Poelle playing the dim-wit slub who wants a fast paycheck really well and Kim nailing the part of the laser focused and sarcastically dry type. The rest of the ensemble are all strong support and the feeling of unlikable weirdness echos throughout this town. No one is a hero which makes it a very fun morally grey sandbox to play in. Trigger Happy is a fun, welcome surprise, one that follows through on it’s initial promise and finishes as strong as it begins.
GRADE: A-
WRITTEN BY Daniel Moya STORY BY Daniel Moya, Tiffany Kim Stevens DIRECTED BY Tiffany Kim Stevens STARRING Tyler Poelle, Elsha Kim, Christina Kirkman, Matt Lowe. NOW PLAYING ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS EVERYWHERE