The Trigger Effect

A sudden, unexplained blackout throws an American city into disorder. With electricity, phones and radio gone, the routines that hold daily life together stop working. Matthew and Annie, a suburban couple with an infant, find themselves cut off along with everyone else. When word spreads of looting and break-ins nearby, Matthew and their visiting friend Joe buy a shotgun for protection, though Annie objects to having a weapon in the house. As the outage continues and fear grows, the three of them must decide how far they are willing to go to keep themselves safe.

David Koepp directed and wrote the film, his first time in the director's chair, and Michael Grillo produced it for Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Gramercy Pictures. Kyle MacLachlan and Elisabeth Shue play Matthew and Annie, with Dermot Mulroney as Joe and supporting turns from Richard T. Jones, Bill Smitrovich and Michael Rooker. Koepp went on to direct six further features, beginning with Stir of Echoes in 1999.

Released in August 1996, the film cost about 8 million dollars and took in roughly 4 million worldwide. Its ratings sit in the middle range, at 5.7 on IMDb from around 8,400 votes and 5.8 on TMDB from 125 votes, while its critics' score stands at 6.3 from 25 reviews, slightly above what audiences gave it.