M. Night Shyamlan’s 2024 project, Trap, is a suspenseful thriller starring Josh Hartnett. Hartnett’s character, Cooper, takes his daughter to an Eras Tour-esque concert headlined by the fictional pop superstar, Lady Raven. When he sees an army of police officers guarding the venue, Cooper discovers that the concert is one big trap for a serial killer called, the Butcher. It is soon revealed that Cooper is the Butcher, as he searches for a way out of the fortified event.
The movie’s concept is extremely fascinating. Approximately the first three quarters of the movie take place at the concert where Cooper is stuck. He must come up with a way out of the arena by the end of Lady Raven’s set, or he’ll be inspected by the police. Cooper gets critical information from a T-shirt stand employee, who just so happens to be briefed on the FBI’s whole plan to catch the Butcher. From there, Cooper navigates the venue in his hunt for a way past the guards. He cleverly blends in with arena staff and showcases his quick-thinking abilities that helped him commit twelve unsolved murders.
The first chunk of the movie was intriguing, entertaining, and suspenseful. However, once Cooper and his daughter escape the concert, everything goes downhill. The pop star, Lady Raven, inexplicably decides to take down the serial killer by herself. At this point, the film also tries to introduce a backstory to explain Cooper’s disturbing mind by recounting a troubled past with his parents, but it is very vague and out of left field.
The plot becomes increasingly messy as the film nears its end. A series of odd narrative and directorial choices are primarily to blame. The supposedly cunning and sharp Cooper keeps escaping, only to make stupid decisions that get him caught again. First, he unnecessarily reveals his identity to Lady Raven while escaping as her limo driver. Then, he makes his way back to the house where he had just been caught. The FBI also becomes strangely careless as soon as the concert is over. They have the serial killer’s location confirmed, but only choose to send a couple cop cars to his house. This is after they set up an entire concert with hundreds of police officers just to catch the Butcher. Finally, Cooper is caught, after his previous escape attempts. Handcuffed and being escorted to the police car, the elusive mass murderer somehow manages to remove a spoke from his kid’s bike unnoticed, despite all eyes being on him.
The characters throughout the film are all over the place, but the acting is mostly strong. Josh Hartnett is convincing as both an intimidating presence and a normal dad. He strikes the perfect balance of likability and evil to get the audience invested in his escape, without rooting for his character. Lady Raven was played by M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter and aspiring musician, Saleka. Although her music is not so subtly pushed pretty heavily in this movie, I really didn’t mind her sizable presence. Her acting is passable, while her songs are good, making the concert feel very real.
However, so much of the dialogue in this film is very far from real. There are peculiar choices of words from basically every character. In particular, the conversations between Cooper and Jody’s mom are extremely jarring. Perhaps, unnaturalness in dialogue is intentional, since Cooper is a serial killer trying to blend in, but even so, it is overdone in a very strange way that undermines Cooper’s apparent cleverness and uncanny ability to lie so easily.
Surprisingly, the film is fairly funny. The movie sprinkles in humor with dark themes, mostly coming from side characters like Kid Cudi’s random appearance and Jamie, the T-shirt stand employee. The film is also unintentionally funny in certain instances due to the bizarre dialogue and unusual moments in serious scenes.
Although Trap might have been better as an atmospheric escape experience never having left the concert, it is still a rather enjoyable film as it stands. For all its flaws, the movie is a fun watch, especially if being viewed with friends.
6/10
