Trigger Review: Fantastic Acting and Action Leave You on the Edge of Your Seat

Trigger Review: When illegal firearms flood South Korea, things get from great to worse in a matter of moments. Previously, with zero gun-related violence cases, authorities now struggle to find out the source of this illegal influx of firearms in the country. Amid the madness are Detective Lee Do and Moon Baek, a mysterious figure in the underground arms broker world, who work together to get to the bottom of the problem.

The series has 10 episodes, each with a runtime of around 50 minutes.

Trigger Review

The series opens with the sentence “everyone has a trigger”, and it proceeds to make us feel that in every scene. This isn’t really about justice over injustice and all that. While it’s a part of it, the series is much more nuanced and deep-seated than it would seem at first glance. It starts with a man who has had enough of society piling on him for days, weeks and months, finally reaching his breaking point after one “trigger” point that changes everything. We see several people, from different walks of life, facing something similar, getting close to that moment of snapping, leading to a thrilling situation all around.

This is a story about ordinary people who have had enough of being pushed around. Just like Jeong-tae, even the safest of countries find themselves on the edge because a lack of crime doesn’t mean a lack of criminals or less dissatisfaction among the masses. The series is absolutely fantastic and somehow feels utterly personal. You feel the tension in the air as another person is bullied or faces injustice without any recourse. Will they snap? What happens when they do? The feeling of losing control is evident in every scene and leaves you feeling heavy.

Trigger also has fantastic tension-dripping action sequences. If you are aware of gun violence in media, it’s usually not that interesting because, well, you know where this is going. But the Netflix series somehow makes these sequences extremely thrilling, with how tense they turn out to be. The hand-to-hand action is also great and is absolutely fluid; it’s sometimes hard to believe that these are actors!

However, a lot of that comes from Kim Nam-gil and Kim Young-kwang, who are both fantastic in their roles. Nam-gil, as Lee Do, brings a certain edge and charisma to the show that is hard to ignore. Meanwhile, Young-kwang, who was unnerving in Somebody, brings a nonchalant tension to the series that will leave you questioning his every move. The two share a great chemistry that is equal parts sweet and disturbing. The twist with his character isn’t super shocking, but his backstory does leave you heartbroken.

Also Read: Mandala Murders Review: Entertaining and Sometimes Even Thrilling

With 10 episodes to understand its various issues, the series constantly keeps us on edge. Every person’s frustration and pain feels so personal that it touches your heart at every turn. Even though what they are doing is wrong, you can’t help but understand their motivations. It also highlights how some bad factions of society can easily manipulate vulnerable people and use them for their own benefit and to cause chaos, making the push and pull of the situation extremely entertaining to watch.

There are no black and white people here; everyone is mostly grey. They are given context and time to evolve. You are utterly drowning in the universe by the time you reach the end, and you can’t really hate or love someone completely. They show sides of themselves that feel real and hard to judge, and thus, by the end, things just feel a bit hopeless. I really enjoy the social commentary here, and that a gun in the hand of a good person is, in the end, a weapon. Thankfully, we end on a hopeful note, so not all is lost!

Final thoughts

Trigger is fantastic. Its action sequences are absolutely entertaining and will leave you thrilled from start to end, along with an emotional and nuanced storyline, which just adds to that feeling. With fantastic performances from everyone, this one’s a must-watch for anyone who likes crime action shows.

Also Read: Trigger Ending Explained: Who is Behind the Illegal Weapons? Is Moon Baek a Part of It?