In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
This movie contains 56 potentially triggering events.
Pugsley (or Pugsly), Sarah Connor’s green Iguana pet, is left behind when Sarah goes on the run. The movie never brings him up or shows him again, after The Terminator invades her apartment and kills her roommate.
1:11:53 you’ll see a dead rat a kid holds up for food. 1:12:40 the guard dogs get shot off screen but you’ll only hear a whimper, no blood or violence.
when sarah passes her roommates boyfriend on her way out the door he gives her a cheek kiss in a weird playful way but it's like a joke between friends
As mentioned by another user, there are a lot of deaths in this movie, and there is often blood and/or gore when that happens, sometimes quite a bit. Whether or not that amount would be considered excessive is up to debate imo. It's not slasher-movie level goriness, but characters are shot, and within the first few minutes a guy gets his heart ripped out (though the lighting is a bit dark.) There are also two different parts about halfway through the movie where the Terminator does surgery on his right arm, and then on his left eye. Both moments show close ups, which can be pretty gross.
When Kyle first arrives in the past, he is chased by a police officer. The officer loses him for only a few seconds before Kyle jumps out and gets into a struggle with the officer. An electronic stinging sound is made when this jumpscare happens. Another jumpscare happens in the final climax of the movie. Sarah believes the terminator is finally destroyed but comes back and reaches out to grab her. Loud electronic music is played, making it quite effective. If you look closely before it happens, you can notice the terminator slightly twitch.
There is not a scene in a mental institution, but there is a sequence where one of the main characters is interviewed by a psychologist and incorrectly diagnosed as delusional.
self-surgery but not self-harm. after the first chase scene, when terminator disappears from the car. next scene is him doing arm + eye surgery, extremely gross, onscreen. he doesn't feel pain
Some of the transitions between waking reality and flashbacks are abrupt, especially when Kyle is having his nightmare, but it's usually clear which is which.
Kyle suddenly experiences desperation, uncontrolled anger and becomes physically aggressive while he's handcuffed and being interrogated by police when they challenge the legitimacy of his story. This leads them to believe he's mentally ill. Not sure it's what is meant by "meltdown" persay, but close enough that it still might be considered a trigger.
Only time travel shenanigans, Kyle is technically way younger than Sarah since he travelled to an era around twenty years before he was born but he’s physically and mentally the same age as her and as far as I know there wasn't any Time Travellers Wife-esque meetings between the two
There is a sex scene, and it might be a first time for one or both of them (he mentions that he's never had a serious romantic relationship before) but if so it is not mentioned. So, maybe? but loss of virginity is not the point of the scene.
No discussions, but there are philosophical/existential components to the movie as it centers somewhat on the idea of fate and our ability to change destiny through our choices and actions.
Ending is bittersweet. A main character dies by the end, and despite winning the day, there is a sense of impending and inevitable dread on the horizon.
there's nasty fender benders in every chase scene, in one early scene Kyle T-bones a police car in an alleyway
immediately after Kyle gets shot after fleeing the motel, there's several extremely bad ones in a row. she rams the motorcycle, their car flips over, terminator slides across the pavement and gets run over by an 18 wheeler, he rams into them with the 18 wheeler