I am not having her use a mind trick on the guard, as my original post explains that she doesn’t even know what that is. I am hoping I can find a way to cut this into a scene of her simply concentrating on her bindings and using the force to spring them open. I find that much more believable for a neophyte force user to achieve rather than using a very dominating mind trick.
Let alone how to use it (properly).
Very true, from the Shadows of the Empire novel we see that, “This power required the complete concentration of the user. Worries such as whether or not it would work or allowing one to be distracted by the insight gained into the mind of the subject would cause the trick to fail.” If there’s any truly impossible feat Rey achieves in TFA, it would be this one.
Its improbability is followed closely by “using the force” to defeat Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel. In Legends, anyone unfamiliar with a lightsaber was always shocked by how awkward the weapon felt and how it was nothing like anything they’d used before. Toning down Rey’s early force abilities also makes for a much better shock when Rey force pulls Luke’s saber to her hand. That should be the first time as a viewer we are shocked by her power, and that is a more impactful moment if it hasn’t been overshadowed by her flippant uses of the force earlier in the film.