thiscouldbetriggering

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (Video Game, 2021)

(Note - vague spoilers ahead.)

 Known Triggers (x):

Jump Scares - A series wide staple. Most of these are triggered upon game over, though there is a running gag involving humorous jump scares (the character that does it is harmless).

Themes of Child Endangerment, Abduction, Abuse, and Death- A recurring theme across the franchise. This game's premise involves Gregory, a young boy, being trapped after hours in an indoor amusement park with dangerous animatronics and a copycat killer of a serial child murder hunting him down. Said serial killer both appears as a costumed character and a mascot. There are allusions to child murder, such as a bundle of children's clothes in one area and mentions of 'disappearances.' One of the animatronics is mostly localized to one area and is intended to look after toddler-age children, but is an enemy that, according to one note, terrified at least one child with strict, cruel, and erratic behavior that it also demonstrates in front of Gregory during its segment. In a series of collectables, there are allusions to custody battles, an abusive father, the potential death of a mother (possibly through suicide), and the long term effects this has on a (now adult) character. While it's ambiguous in context how much they're telling the truth, the character in question is unambiguously a current victim of abuse through implied brainwashing and psychological manipulation by an older male figure who may or may not be of relation.

Homelessness/Poverty - There are allusions to such involving a child character. It's mostly through implication, though one potential ending makes it more clear.

Supernatural and Science-Fiction Horror Tropes, Including Some Involving Possession and Brainwashing- This includes both human and animatronic characters.

Character Death and Grief - Two separate endings feature the character death of a father figure. A third leaves his fate ambiguous, while two others have near-misses. The aforementioned implied homeless child character does not appear to have any parents or other legal guardians, possibly suggesting that they are an orphan or was abandoned (however, the issue is not discussed). The aforementioned collectables imply that a mother may have died after a custody battle, possibly from suicide. There is also an implied death of an animatronic in the backstory, with the further implication that another animatronic was responsible. Some dialogue has a different animatronic expressing grief for their lost friend.

 Violence - As mentioned, there are themes of child death and endangerment. Most of these are alluded to via implication. There are two named human characters who can potentially die in several endings, but these deaths mostly use discretion shots (though one is a child, and the other has a death that, while it takes place just offscreen, is particularly brutal). The animatronics also experience significant amounts of damage which is more detailed in comparison (both damaging incidents and immediate aftermaths are shown). Said animatronics are practically sentient and are full-fledged characters in their own right, and at least three of these are the result of actions the player carries out, which may upset some people. 

Body Horror: While not involving human characters, the animatronics after getting damaged have legitimately disturbing appearances and realistic emotional reactions to their predicament. They are still enemies at this point in the game.

Arachnophobia imagery- While the imagery is more cartoony, there are still bits involving oversized spider-like animatronics, with one being particularly massive as part of a boss battle.

Mental Illness/Disordered Eating Themes- Aside from the therapy collectables, the enemy animatronics are sentient enough to develop maladaptive behavior that can be evocative of various disorders. One animatronic, while programmed to be a comedic foodie, regularly binge-eats to the point of digging food out of the garbage out of desperation which may be an ED trigger. A second one has significant violent anger issues. A third is outwardly arrogant, but is actually extremely insecure and uses particularly vitriolic language towards the child protagonist (which is implied to be projection).

Got something to add?  Have a suggestion for future content? Let us know!

[thiscouldbetriggering]

We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson (book)

(Note - vague spoilers ahead.)

Trigger 1- consistent assault by sibling

Trigger 2- depression caused by the suicide of a partner 

Trigger 3- drug and alcohol abuse

Trigger 4- miscarriage

Trigger 5- attempted sexual assault 

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Barbarian - 2022, Film

(Vague Spoilers Ahead)

Known triggers include:

Barbarian contains multiple storylines of s**ual assualt, including a workplace harassment plotline, and another villain as a serial abductor/assaulter of women, resulting in forced pregnancies. Incest is also featured in said storyline.

There is a suicide, as well as a violent scene involving a car.

Stay safe lovelies, and feel free to write in with any additions.

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Known triggers:

There's a storyline concerning a woman being imprisoned and experiencing multiple s**ual assaults, resulting in a forced pregnancy. She relays this to another character.

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Where The Crawdads Sing

Known triggers (book and movie):

Depictions of child neglect / abuse / abandonment

Extreme poverty

Alcoholism

Domestic violence (repeated, overarching theme)

(Attempted) s**ual assault

Murder

Please note - I cannot in good conscience advocate that you give any money to this author, as in real-life she is wanted for questioning in regard to a 1996 vigilante murder of an alleged poacher carried out by her then-stepson in Zambia. Yes, seriously. Please don't give her your financial support, but do help bring attention to this horrifying injustice.

[thiscouldbetriggering]

TW: The new Batman (2022) with Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz features several references to domestic violence and choking, imcluding a depiction of the latter.

Multiple cases of death of a parent (Batman and Catwoman. The latter is fairly traumatized by her mother's murder and seeking revenge).

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Stargate Sg-1: potential emetophobia for season 4, “Watergate”

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I know this forum is really old but I am just now watching Buffy for the first time and came across this site after watching S1E8, “I robot you jane.” There is a scene in this episode where a character cuts himself and it is very triggering and caused me to have a panic attack. This scene takes place within the first 15 minutes of the show and was very unexpected. I came to the internet to see if anyone had documented this and I was surprised to see it was not anywhere. I appreciate that you took the time to add all the other episodes but I would suggest adding this one to the list, as well. I hope this helps others in the future!

--- blog note: Thank you for contributing! I'm so sorry you had this experience

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Heyyy so the new It starts off with a brutal homophobic attack pls signal boost!!

Other trigger warnings are for domestic violence (early in the film, then hinted at childhood trauma in flashbacks), suicide, and psych wards. Also emetophobia

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Just a friendly warning; YouTube is doing screamer ads again. It’s for the new Annabelle movie and it starts with “staring contest in 3,2,1” followed by a jumpscare and a loud scream. I saw it today (June 20th) so keep an eye out for it.

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Hi, I think this blog is absolutely incredible and am so pleased that it exists! Just as an addition - in the 4th episode of Sabrina there is a scene involving hangings which is extremely triggering. Haunting of Hill House - episode 5 has a very graphic hanging scene also. Keep up the positive and amazing work!

cheers

[thiscouldbetriggering]

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018 Netflix Original Series)

Please note, this is a masterpost, and will be regularly updated as new content is reviewed.  To see the most recent version of this post, click here.  

(An additional addendum - the series contains all the supernatural horror you’d expect: some creepy images/jumpscares, blood, murder, etc.  Such sequences are too gratuitous to record fully due to the inherent nature of the media, so I will instead be focusing on triggers which aren’t genre-specific.)

Vague spoilers ahead.

Season 1, Episode 1:

Death of Parents - as those who are familiar with Sabrina’s backstory will remember, Sabrina is being raised by her parents due to the loss of her parents.  This is noted at least twice during the pilot.  However, it’s implied that her parents died when she was fairly young, as she doesn’t seem to harbor memories of them and her reaction to their deaths seems to be one more of longing and curiosity than grief.

Bullying - this is a recurring theme in the series, as is persecution.  Sabrina is bullied for being half-human, and one of her mortal friends is bullied at their high school (more on this in next point). 

Sexual/Physical Assault - (described, not depicted.) A gender-nonconforming student has her shirt pulled up against her will by a group of football players.  When her friend reports it, the principal shows a lack of concern.  Obviously, this plot point has elements of misogyny, homophobia/lesbophobia, and transphobia as well.  (It’s worth mentioning that Sabrina’s attitude toward these events is empowering rather than disparaging - without giving away spoilers, she’s very proactive and determined for justice to be had.  This helps make the arc more watchable in my opinion - but ymmv, so please tread carefully.

Needles/Trypanophobia - Sabrina’s family runs a mortuary, and during the inspection/preparation of a body, her cousin performs an injection on the corpse.

Sexualization of a Child - There’s a scene in which Sabrina (age 15) is taking a bath, and she stands up and exits the tub.  Nothing is really seen beyond her silhouette, but the unnecessary (imo sexualized) nudity of a child could be off-putting for some.

Death of a Child - At one point the grieving parents of a stabbing victim come to speak to Sabrina’s mortician-family about their son.  The intensity of their grief is fairly mild (relatively speaking), but warrants mentioning.

Arachnophobia - a character who is afraid of spiders is covered in them

Season 1, Episode 2

Death of a Child - there is a follow-up scene of the parents from the last episode.  Again, it’s fairly tame in emotional intensity, but could still be upsetting.

Homophobia and Violence Against Women - a small teenage girl (with a gender-nonconforming appearance) gets into a tussle with 4 much larger football players.  She comes away bruised and bloody.  The boys call her a lesbophobic slur.  In a later scene in the same episode, they use another homophobic slur for a man.

Homophobia/Queermongering - I’m not even sure how to describe this without a lot of explanation and spoilers, but I’ll give it a try anyway.  There are some homophobic characters who are threatened with the idea of being gay themselves.  This possibility is presented as absolutely horrifying to them.  I’m probably not describing it well, I’m sorry...anyway, some gay people might just laugh it off as a joke, but the depiction of gay people as something bad/scary could also be triggering.

Dubious Consent/Sexual Assault (male) - not actual sex, but making out in their underwear.  There’s an unnerving phrase used that insinuates more might have happened to them.  

Sexualization of Children - Sabrina, still aged 15, and a few other teenage girls (actual ages unknown, but still schoolgirls) carry out an act of seduction in a surreal sequence that’s clearly supposed to be thrilling for the audience, not just for its eeriness, but for its eroticism.  The girls take their tops off, speak in husky voices, and kiss the teenage boys.  

Have anything to add?  Please let me know here - or if it’s a longer message, feel free to submit it.  (Spoiler warnings are appreciated, as I haven’t finished the series.)

[thiscouldbetriggering]

I just want to let you know there was another scene in “The First Purge that you missed. It was the part where the female protagonist was standing on the grate outside and someone lured her in using a baby crying then proceeded to touch her.

thank you!!!! yes that scene was definitely unnerving from a female perspective

[thiscouldbetriggering]

New Releases: The First Purge, Ant-Man and the Wasp

Mild (vague) spoilers below.

- The First Purge (2018)

Known Triggers*:

Racist imagery - as those familiar with the franchise will recall, a major premise of the movies is that The Purge is rooted in racism and classism. This theme is particularly strong in this installment; some of the Purgers wear Klan hoods, and others have masks reminiscent of blackface.

Body Horror/Discomfort - We see a character insert a pair of contact lenses; this could be uncomfortable for people who are sensitive to seeing someone touching their eyes

Trypanophobia - It’s mentioned that people who willingly stay in the area during the Purge get trackers implanted by the government.  I can’t recall for certain if we see the actual injection, but I think we do?

- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Known Triggers*:

There is mention of an emetophobia trigger.  The v-word is used in a quick scene, and we hear a brief/weak (fake) sound effect off camera, but nothing is seen.

Viewers of the first movie will recall that the backstory involves a Loss of a Parent.  This theme is returned to in the sequel, but with (spoiler alert) a happy ending.  Another character loses both her parents as a child in an explosion.

Terminal Illness - averted.

Surrealism/Altered Reality - A character has the ability to “phase” through objects and we frequently see them fading in and out or looking distorted.  The latter effect appears something like this, and may bother people with sensitivity to hallucinations or altered reality.

Obviously if you have any kind of insectophobia, this movie is not recommended.  It will almost certainly bother you.  Proceed with caution.

Did I leave anything out?  Have a suggestion for another post? Let me know here.

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Deadpool 2 (2018, Rated R)

This is hella late I’m sorry, I forgot to blog about it when it came out!  Vague spoilers ahead.

Known Triggers:

Child Abuse - huuuuge element of the plot

Major Character Death* - another big plot point.  Throughout the film we see flashes of a grieving character interacting with a deceased loved one in a Limbo-like setting

The obvious stuff like gun violence, etc etc  - this includes Violence Against Women and Choking, in a brief scene towards the beginning of the movie (thanks @wildalakea for reminding me of this)

Did I leave stuff out? Let me know!

(Spoilers under the cut)

*(spoilers) Retconned in the post-credits scene

[thiscouldbetriggering]

If you’ve noticed this blog has gotten less active again…most of my free time is being used job searching atm, and being un(der)employed is already a stressor enough, so I’ve had to dedicate less time and energy to the running of this blog in the meantime.  I feel terrible when I get requests and have to leave them sitting in my inbox, but please keep in mind that looking up and reading through various Parent’s Guides and synopses, and then typing up/formatting posts can wind up eating up my time a lot faster than you’d think.  (And thanks so much to everyone who’s been understanding of that. <3 <3 <3 )  

That said, I’m still dedicated to expanding the database as much and as often as possible, and you can continue to support this blog by submitting posts, liking the Facebook page, and/or signing up as a Patreon for literally just $1/month (and you only get charged that dollar if I continue to post original content during that time period).  If even 1% of this blog’s followers chipped in a dollar a month, it would make a real difference in helping me produce regular updates.  Please consider pitching in if you can, and feel free to signal boost this post to help spread the word!

A monthly reminder that you can support this blog on Patreon for as low as $1 a month!  It is absolutely not required to use this service, but it does significantly increase my ability to keep this blog active.  Please consider pledging and/or spreading the word if you think this site is a valuable service. :) (Read more about how subscribing benefits the blog here.)  You can also make a one-time donation through PayPal.

[thiscouldbetriggering]

Unsane (2018 film, rated R)

As always, vague spoilers ahead.

Known Triggers (x):

Stalking - The main premise of the movie is that a woman was stalked for 2 years by a guy she met through work, and she suffers from mental health issues as a result, including paranoia, occasional suicidal thoughts, and panic attacks (depicted).  Her paranoia can lead her to question her reality.

Mental Hospitals - The protagonist is involuntarily committed when she seeks counseling.  They also administer medication against her will, and it’s all incredibly unethical and dehumanizing.

Attempted Rape - very disturbing, and ends with the woman’s murder.  There are multiple depictions of violence against women

There is mention of a character’s history of drug addiction.  An overdose is also depicted.

The main character used to work at a nursing home, and there’s discussion of Alzheimer’s Disease and parents with terminal illness.

Torture and Broken Bones.  Again, this includes murder - a major character dies a very swift, violent death.

Death of a parent

Did I leave something out?  Have a suggestion for future content? As always, stay safe! <3