Shyamalan’s Trap

Where to Watch: Theaters

Directed By: 

M. Night Shyamalan

Written By: 

M. Night Shyamalan

Starring:

Josh Hartnett, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill, Saleka Shyamalan

Genre:

Thriller, Horror, Crime

Rated R

All media courtesy of Warner Brothers

M. Night Shyamalan’s newest suspense thriller centers around Cooper, (Josh Hartnett), a father, and his daughter Riley (Hayley Mills) going to see the daughter’s favorite performer Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan). The arena is swarming with police and this concert is all set up to catch a known serial killer “The Butcher”, also known as Cooper. Will this murdering psycho be able to escape justice or will the game of cat and mouse work?

I have quite a love-hate relationship with M.Night’s work. He continues to have excellent premises for his movies, and no doubt this story being told through the perspective of Josh Hartnett is very interesting.

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There’s just something about this flawed genius of a director that can either leave me loving, hating, or just blissfully laughing at the silliness of his newest films. “Trap” hearkens back to the Alfred Hitchcock suspense films, with fourth-wall-breaking camerawork by “Call Me By Your Name” cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom.

I just can’t peg whether this is meant to be a silly film or not. As it stands, there are a lot of issues regarding the dialogue, third act, and performances, but for some reason, I found the flaws too funny to dismiss the entertainment value of the absurdness.

Cooper as a character cannot keep it together from beginning to end. You see him literally taunting the police and encouraging his daughter that it’d be “cool” to get underneath a floor that opens into a way out of the arena. How is that not just hilarious?

I will say that if you go into this, take nothing seriously, and almost imagine a dark comedy to get through the third act. Sadly, Saleka Shyamalan is absolutely a star and has a great voice, I just do not see this being her breakout performance because of how much the story pivotes to her in the ending, seemingly from out of nowhere. It would have nothing to do with being M.Night’s daughter, and coincidentally her sister Ishana Night Shyamalan also debuted her first directed film, “The Watchers.”

It’s at this point where I felt the film sacrificed its story to Saleka but doesn’t fit or feel authentic to the story they were telling. That makes the entire third act feel out of left field. The strongest moments happen in the first half. Overall, “Trap” is one you can certainly wait for streaming to watch. Not worth a ticket price, but certainly worth a few laughs for a movie night.

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