Trap (M. Night Shyamalan, 2024)
Trap is the most conventionally entertaining movie that M Night Shyamalan has made in years. But wait, there is a catch.
It starts by telling a fairly straightforward story, about a man called Cooper (Josh Hartnett), who is married and a doting father of two, who takes his teen daughter Riley (a quite believable Ariel Donoghue) to a large arena concert by Lady Raven, the female Popstar du jour.
At the concert he notices an unusual large police force and when he asks vendor Jamie (a very funny Jonathan Langdon) what’s going on he gets an answer he doesn’t like. The police have set a trap for a serial killer called The Butcher.
At that point the plot really kicks in and if you haven’t seen the trailer or read any reviews I’d suggest you refrain til after you’ve watched the movie. (If you do know what I’m talking about that’s fine too, cause there are plenty of other surprises in store.)
Still, and here comes the unfortunate twist, Trap is also a bit of a missed opportunity. As a father-daughter movie it is pretty convincing. As a thriller it is just not tight enough. That’s basically because Lady Raven is played by Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka and the first half of the concert is turned into a showcase of her music, allowing the pace to drag and the momentum to slip.
The second half, which takes place after the concert has ended, is much better and offers some genuine thrills and suspense, even if it is rather light on actual scares.
Still, as conventionally entertaining as the movie as a whole is - the ending does answer questions both Cooper and the audience may have in a mostly satisfactory way - it could have easily been better.
That’s a shame, cause I really enjoyed Josh Hartnett’s performance as Cooper, showing he can play both big, small and everything in between, and also proving (at least to me) that he could still become a proper leading man in the second half of his career.
The supporting cast (including veteran actress Hayley Mills and the always amazing Alison Pill) is fine, while tech credits are definitely pro and the movie as a whole is pleasing to look at.
At least, the second part of the Summer of Shyamalan is better than the first and for the family’s sake I hope it is a bit more successful than The Watchers.
Note: Trap is released this week in most parts of the world.