Trap 4K Ultra HD Review

Trap is the latest film from M. Night Shyamalan (Old). A psychological thriller, it stars Josh Hartnett as a serial killer known as “The Butcher” who is attending a concert with his unsuspecting daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) for the mega-pop star Lady Raven (Shyamlan’s daughter Saleka Shyamalan). Unbeknownst to the Butcher, the entire concert is one big trap to capture him. Now he must figure out a way to escape while trying to keep his secret from his daughter.

The film, also written by Shyamalan, begins with an interesting premise and Hartnett gives off a quirky, unsettling air that has him cast perfectly for this role. Unfortunately, as the film progresses, it goes from thriller to the realm of camp, as we move through the Butcher’s increasingly unbelievable efforts to avoid detention, more characters get wrapped up in the cat and mouse game between him and the FBI, and the final denouement which is telegraphed by Shyamalan’s choice of camera angles multiple times and by, you know, basic rules of cliché.

I have not even mentioned the “N” word yet. Not that “N” word, the other one – nepobaby. While Seleka Shyamalan makes for a convincing and even incredibly attractive pop diva, once the music stops, let’s just say no amount of saline solution tears can save her lackluster performance, especially next to the likes of Josh Hartnett and another fine actress like Alison Pill. Rack this one up as another miss for Shyamalan.

Purchase Trap 4K Ultra HD + Digital on Amazon.com

The Video

Trap was shot on fast speed 35mm Kodak Vision 3 500T 5219 film stock in 3-perf Super 35 format. It was scanned in 4K and utilizes a 4K digital intermediate, coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in a 1.85:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement. Forget about the Dolby Vision in this transfer. It is obviously just a marketing ploy on the part of Warner Bros. since the HDR10 metadata shows a MaxLL of 99 nits and a MaxFALL of 27 nits. I am told Shyamalan does not like HDR and this release is in no way “HDR” other than being in an HDR container. The image is somewhat dark and specular highlights have no three-dimensional ‘pop.’ The image is purposely flat, even in the concert scenes, the stage lights and sparkling costumes give off no dazzle. Daylight looks drab as well. The transfer’s strength is the natural look of the film grain, the textures and detail, and inky blacks. There is very subtle crush in darker scenes given how dim the overall image is, but it is not as bad as one would assume it would be.

The Audio

Trap comes with a lossless English Dolby Atmos audio mix that leans on atmospherics more than discrete sound effects. Height awareness is delicate to say the least. The opening act concert sequence adds some spaciousness with a bit of a lift to the sound of the music above the base channels just a bit as well as mix in some very subtle crowd noise. The low-end in these scenes is also nicely extended. For the rest of the film, the sound mix is very subtle. There are some jarring far off to the side directional dialogue pans that are used to create an unsettled feeling, but mostly this mix does not get too wild.

The Supplements

The extras are slight for this release and the deleted scenes were deleted for a reason. They would have made the film even more nonsensical.

Bonus Features:

• Movies Anywhere Digital Code
• Setting the Trap: A New M. Night Shyamalan Experience (1080p; 00:04:08)
• Saleka as Lady Raven (1080p; 00:05:08)
• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:06:16):
  • Cooper Gets Stopped by SWAT
  • Riley Shows Lady Raven Her Room
  • Cooper Takes a Hostage and Slips Away
• Extended Concert Scene: “Where Did She Go” (1080p; 00:03:29)

The Final Assessment

Shyamalan is a hit or miss director, and this is a miss in multiple ways. The premise and plot of this thriller breaks down quickly, the 4K disc, marketed as HDR is really only SDR in an HDR container, so they should have just authored it as 4K SDR release. The Atmos mix is solid, but not necessarily a stand out.

Trap is out on 4K Ultra HD + Digital November 5, 2024 from Warner Bros.

Purchase Trap 4K Ultra HD + Digital on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: PG-13 (for some violent content and brief strong language)
• Studios & Distributors: Blinding Edge Pictures | The Government of Canada Income Tax Credit Program | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
• Written By: M. Night Shyamalan
• Run Time: 105 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 99 nits
  • MaxFALL: 27 nits
  • Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
  • Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible)
• Secondary Audio: English Descriptive Audio (US) | English Descriptive Audio (UK) | French DD 5.1 (Quebec) | French DD 5.1 | German DD 5.1 | German SDH | Italian DD 5.1 | Spanish (Castilian) DD 5.1 | Spanish DD 5.1 (Latino)
• Subtitles: English SDH | German SDH | French | Spanish (Castilian) | Italian SDH | Dutch | Chinese (Traditional) | Chinese (Simplified) | Spanish (Latino) | Danish | Finnish | Swedish