‘Trap’ Review
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Ariel Donoghue, Alison Pill, Saleka Night Shyamalan | Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Cooper (Josh Hartnett) takes his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan) concert, hosted at their local arena. While there, Cooper notices an increased police presence, managing to convince a merchandise seller to explain why. The FBI have the arena surrounded to capture local serial killer “The Butcher,” after they found evidence he would be in attendance that night. The problem? Cooper is The Butcher… and he’s got to find a way out.
Okay, so you might have been one of the people sounding off online that the once-great M. Night Shyamalan had given away his infamous twist in the middle of the Trap trailer. But what if the most intriguing part of Trap isn’t even part of the original storyline that we’re introduced to? In a Taylor Swift-obsessed world, of course the element of an arena-caged cat-and-mouse is going to be the most seductive one. But once we move away from that setting the real magic starts.
You’ll have noticed Trap is a double-edged Shyamalan sword. Two for the price of one, the movie is just as much an homage to his daughter as it is to the genre of authentic suspense he has carved out for himself. At points, this means Trap feels like a concert film first, immersed in an Eras tour level of performance for someone who doesn’t even exist. It’s a gaze that lingers a little too long, overstaying its welcome as The Butcher is chomping at the bit to get back to his comfort zone.
Our first two-thirds of the movie in the arena is well-meaning but perhaps ill-paced. Cooper is truly a homicidal squirrel trapped in a pedal bin, but once we’ve got the idea… we’ve got it. Tension loses its pull as Cooper has to devise yet another contingency plan, near-misses become predictable, and the urge to check your watch scratches at your wrist. It’s never not entertaining, but it comes close to mundane.
Once viewers discover more about who Cooper is outside of the arena, the magic really begins. He’s more shrewd than we give him credit for — and that’s a statement that applies as much to Shyamalan as it does to Cooper. In the best way possible, Josh Hartnett is somehow born to be a serial killer, delivering a closed-off stare that can only be seen in the ferocious unpredictability of a great white shark. He knows his end game before he makes his first move, and that largely works in his favour.
Trap is a horrific thriller that hits close to home given the current socio-political status of the Western world, but perhaps we need it to. Shyamalan is truly the master of reinvention, never appearing dated or past his prime. Sure, we don’t have The Sixth Sense or Signs glory with his later work, but Trap proves his finger has always been on the pulse, and he’s taking us where we need to go.
*** 3/5
Trap is in cinemas now.
