Trap (Movie Review)

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

With Trap, director M. Night Shyamalan returns with a new “experience” for thrill-seeking genre fans. Josh Hartnett (Oppenheimer) stars as Cooper, a doting father, who is spending some quality time with his Lady Raven obsessed daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue). Cooper was Lucky enough to snag some primo seats for the concert but something is amiss here.

Cooper, in reality, is a wanted serial killer known as “The Butcher.” What he doesn’t realize is that law enforcement has the entire concert venue under surveillance in a sort of giant net to ensnare him – the glaring issue for them is that they don’t have a description of what he looks like. Profiler Dr. Josephine Grant (Haley Mills) aka Miss Bliss from Saved By the Bell (the first seasons) is the one calling the shots and serving as the point-woman hunting The Butcher at the show.

Cooper will have to use his savvy serial-killer instincts to try and elude law enforcement. As I sit here and type this I began to chuckle, because the film wants the viewer to root for the bad guy, in this case, Josh Hartnett. We’re past the point of Cooper being an anti-hero here. Obstacles include foolish merchants, police, and Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) herself volunteering way too much information to this “hapless” person that just so happens to be the serial killer everyone is looking for.

I was quite stoked to see Trap since I think has been on a roll, or semi-roll, ever since The Visit.  At my near-sold showing folks were having a great time, with just a few groans here and there at the obvious over indulgence of the Lady Raven performance. Yes, I get it, she is your kid and all that, but let us get back to the main focus of the film. There were also a few instances throughout the film in which I thought Shyamalan was going to try and incorporate or tie this film into his past films. I know some people at my showing were clamoring for a crossover of some kind.

After the ended I was happy but as it began to settle in my thoughts, I began to deconstruct the overall product and thought it was just ok. There are many instances of Shyamalan aping Alfred Hitchcock and Brian de Palma – his overuse of diopter shots being one of many overindulgences he should have scaled back on.

As I mentioned before, Trap was entertaining enough but does fall apart just after the halfway mark. Once Lady Raven becomes a major player the film, it drops down in quality and plausibility. I think the over explaining of certain things between characters is jarring. It doesn’t trust the audience enough to let them see what is going on onscreen, so some stilted line deliveries by inexperienced supporting actors is going to remedy that. Wrong. It’s laughable. I do give props to Shyamalan in that this was a standalone picture and potentially part of a new franchise. Hopefully we get less Lady Raven and more Cooper in a potential sequel. Trap is fine and worth a view.

Trap was released in theaters August 2, 2024 (U.S.)

• Rating Certificate: PG-13 (for some violent content and brief strong language)
• Studios & Distributors: Blinding Edge Pictures | Warner Bros.
• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
• Written By: M. Night Shyamalan
• Country: United Kingdom | Yemen | United States
• Language: English
• Run Time: 105 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Release Date: 2 Aug 2024