Should movies and television shows include trigger warnings?

Zoë Kravitz’s directoral debut film, the psychological thriller “Blink Twice,” released a trigger warning via social media on Thursday, just days before the film releases in theaters.
The trigger warning, a type of alert that lets viewers know that a project includes sensitive content, such as a depiction or discussion of domestic violence, comes after Blake Lively’s latest movie, “It Ends With Us,” was criticized for a lack of such a warning.
“‘Blink Twice is a psychological thriller about the abuse of power. While this is a fictionalized movie, it contains mature themes and depictions of violence — including sexual violence. This may be upsetting or triggering for some viewers,” reads this week’s statement, which was joint-posted by “Blink Twice” and Amazon Studios.
The warning ends by offering support to those seeking it through the site, BlinkTwiceResources.com.
With the warning, “Blink Twice” may have been aiming not just to protect potential viewers, but to avoid the backlash “It Ends With Us” has been facing for not warning audiences of the domestic abuse portrayed in the film.
“By glossing over its domestic violence content in the film’s marketing, and by not providing any content warnings prior to the start of the film, ‘It Ends With Us’ ultimately fails the survivors it is supposed to advocate for,” Bridgette Stumpf, founder and executive director of Network for Victim Recovery of DC, wrote for The Hollywood Reporter.
“This is not to say that we shouldn’t depict domestic violence on film. We should, but we should provide proper warnings to viewers prior to the opening credits to ensure that any survivor of trauma who would like to leave, can.”
“It Ends With Us” does direct audiences to a support hotline during the end-credits.
“If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Visit: www.nomore.org for information and support,” the end-credits message reads, per People.
Triggers warnings in film and TV are not commonplace, but some series, such as “Severance,” “Baby Reindeer” and “13 Reasons Why” have included warnings to sensitive content or directed audiences to support hotlines.
Some research has shown that trigger warnings are not actually effective.
A meta-analysis, published in 2023, found that trigger warnings “had no effect on affective responses to negative material or on educational outcomes.” The study also noted that warnings can have an anticipatory effects, giving rise to anxiety.
“Existing research on content warnings, content notes, and trigger warnings suggests that they are fruitless, although they do reliably induce a period of uncomfortable anticipation,” the study concludes. “Although many questions warrant further investigation, trigger warnings should not be used as a mental-health tool.”
Another study, published by the journal of Clinical Psychological Science, found that those who were given trigger warnings experienced the same levels of distress as those who were not given a trigger warning.
“Trigger warnings had trivial effects — people reported similar levels of negative affect, intrusions, and avoidance regardless of whether they had received a trigger warning,” said the study. “These results suggest a trigger warning is neither meaningfully helpful nor harmful.”
Every movie released in theaters is given a rating by the MPAA, ranging from G to NC-17. Ratings can serve as a guide for what movies you select to watch, especially with children.
Here is how the ratings break down:
The higher the rating, the more intense and/or regular the adult content, such as violence, nudity, language and drug use, per The Classification and Ratings System.
If you want a detailed description of what content is included in a movie, IMDB’s “Parent’s Guide,” Common Sense Media, and Kids in Mind typically include a comprehensive guide as to what adult content is in a movie.
Another site, called doesthedogdie.com, specializes in providing audiences with trigger warnings to movies, TV show and books. The site give trigger warnings for dozens of potential plot points such as animal abuse, death, domestic abuse, addiction, violence, sexual content and more.