Netflix’s Trigger Warning revolves around a highly skilled Special Forces commando who finds herself in the crosshairs of a dangerous crime syndicate in her hometown state, which is where the entirety of the movie was filmed. The 2024 action thriller, directed by Mouly Surya and written by John Brancato, Josh Olson, and Halley Gross, is being described as a John Wick replacement film featuring Jessica Alba in the leading role, despite Trigger Warning‘s negative reviews. Nevertheless, it’s topping the Netflix charts, which is good news for the cast and crew after so much time was put into making the movie.

Pre-production on Trigger Warning officially began in 2016 when Thunder Roads Productions acquired its spec script, and Netflix bought the rights to distribute the film in 2020. After the Trigger Warning cast was finalized, principal photography finally began and concluded in late 2021, with production confined to one southwestern state. After a long and arduous post-production process, Netflix released the Trigger Warning trailer in May 2024 and the action thriller debuted on the streaming service on June 21, 2024.

Various Cities In New Mexico

The Cast & Crew Filmed In Santa Fe, Albuquerque, & Other Cities

Trigger Warning was completely shot in New Mexico in the United States in late 2021, with the actors and production crew traveling to several different locations within the state to capture scenes on location. According to Decider, Jessica Alba, Anthony Michael Hall, and the other Trigger Warning cast members filmed the 2024 Netflix action thriller in central and northern cities in New Mexico, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Española, Madrid, Los Cerrillos, and Lamy. New Mexico was seemingly the perfect location for Trigger Warning with its desert landscapes and scenic backdrops.

The cast and crew of Trigger Warning also utilized Zia Pueblo, a Native American community, in New Mexico to capture some sequences, including one involving an ambulance. Unfortunately, one crew member, James Saul, was injured while filming in Zia Pueblo. The scene featured a cable towing an ambulance, but the cable broke at one point and hit Saul’s leg. Saul was taken to the hospital, where he learned that his leg had been broken, but he later recovered and rejoined the production crew on the set of Trigger Warning.

Albuquerque Studios

Multiple Scenes Were Shot At Netflix’s Studio In New Mexico

When they couldn’t shoot on location, the cast and crew of Trigger Warning used Albuquerque Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to film scenes. Netflix owns the film studio after the company purchased it in 2018 in an attempt to lure more movie and television productions to New Mexico. Aside from Jessica Alba’s Netflix action thriller, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, The Avengers, The Lone Ranger, Independence Day: Resurgence, Logan, and Stranger Things season 4 were also partially shot at Albuquerque Studios (previously known as ABQ Studios).

Is Creation, New Mexico A Real Place?

Trigger Warning’s Setting Is A Fictional Town

Given that most of the events of Trigger Warning take place in New Mexico (and because Netflix owns an impressive film studio in the state), it makes sense why Netflix chose it as the 2024 movie’s primary filming location. However, Trigger Warning director Mouly Surya and writers John Brancato, Josh Olson, and Halley Gross did not utilize a real location in New Mexico as Jessica Alba’s character’s hometown. In actuality, Creation is not a real place one could travel to in New Mexico and was made up in the script.

Of course, choosing to create a fictional city for the backdrop of the action thriller allowed the cast and crew to capture its scenes in various locations across the state and composite them into one location for the sake of the movie’s story. The director and writers wanted the Netflix film to capture the feeling of a southwestern town without having to confine it to one specific (real) location in New Mexico. So, while the majority of Trigger Warning is set in Creation, New Mexico, it was actually filmed in multiple cities across the central and northern parts of the state.

Source: Decider