Likened to both My Dinner with Andre and Before Sunset, the character- and dialogue-driven Trigger is a story of rock ‘n’ roll—and all of its destructive accoutrements—with a female twist. More than ten years after having a band ending fight on stage, musicians Kat and Vic reunite for the first time in a tony restaurant on the night that they are being honored at a tribute concert for women in rock.

Right off the bat, unresolved issues and buried emotions dominate their awkward reunion. As they reminisce, it is apparent how each has changed…or hasn’t. Both former slaves to their vices, recovering alcoholic Kat (Deadwood’s Molly Parker) is now successful, pretentious and the epitome of pristine preppiness. Shaggy-haired Vic (the late Tracy Wright, beloved Canadian actress who died shortly after finishing the film) still dresses the part of a rock star and lives with the same guy from over a decade ago, but she’s substituted drugs with spirituality and a new acoustic sound. As they candidly reconnect over the course of one incredibly eventful night, egos are lost, layers are peeled away, and repressed feelings are revealed.

Parker and Wright play well off of each other, each alternating between strength and vulnerability with tremendous aplomb. The film deftly conveys the difficulties of remaining sober in the face of the music industry’s trappings and the struggle to keep your identity when the fame is long gone.

—ANGELIQUE SMITH