Trap (2024), directed by M. Night Shyamalan, stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Alison Pill, Hayley Mills, Tim Russ, Kid Cudi, and Jonathan Langdon. The film follows Cooper (Hartnett) and his teenage daughter, Riley (Donoghue) as they attend a massive concert of famous pop star, Lady Raven (Shyamalan). After Cooper notices an uncommon level of security throughout the venue, he learns that the concert is actually an elaborate trap for a brutal serial killer known as “The Butcher.” Little does anyone suspect that Cooper is actually the infamous killer and he sets out to escape the concert by any means necessary. This begins a deadly game of cat and mouse with countless members of law enforcement led by veteran criminal psychologist, Dr. Josephine Grant (Mills). Unprepared and outnumbered, Cooper is forced to use his killer wits to escape unnoticed while simultaneously sidestepping the growing suspicions of his daughter. 

Although M. Night’s trademark awkward dialogue and strange tonal choices only work to lessen the performances, Hartnett still shines in a uniquely chilling lead turn. His dark eyes and Joker-like smile linger in one’s mind even if the script sometimes undermines his scare factor. it feels like a missed opportunity that the script never allows the character to truly shock or scare the viewer. He’s a serial killer, and the portrayal is great, it’s just missing the element of providing him with moments that support and/or prove his implied malevolence. I think this is one of those films that would have been improved with an R rating.

As for the rest of the cast, no one is strong enough to overcome M. Night’s awkward direction and consistently wooden dialogue. None of them are particularly interesting and at best fall into the category of “serviceable.” Even the character of Dr. Josephine Baker is one we’ve seen in not only other films but also in other M. Night projects i.e. Split (2016) & Devil (2010). There’s also not a lot of satisfying resolution for any of these characters. The movie strangely feels built to breed sequels, but it comes off as forced and leaves too many character resolutions up to the imagination.  

Thankfully, this is one of Shyamalan’s more grounded thrillers. Especially in his modern era, I feel he works best when avoiding outlandish (yet sometimes admittedly ballsy) supernatural elements. Ignoring the sometimes laughable dialogue, the first half of the film holds a lot of promise as a fun, contained thriller. Although it mostly backs up this promise in the second half, there are a decent amount of issues. It suffers from the annoying problem of having what feels like three climaxes in the third act. Instead of subverting our expectations like this can sometimes do, it just pads out the runtime and turns what should be a simple, yet effective thriller into something that feels a tad self-indulgent and overlong. 

Although a competent film, there’s a real lack of risks taken. This is disappointing because whether Shyamalan’s films are good or bad, it’s always interesting to see what new original ideas he’ll add to the cinematic canon. On one hand, it feels safe, but on the other hand, it feels disciplined.   

Although most of my comments so far have been negative, I do think this lands in the camp of “good Shyamalan films.” After Knock at the Cabin (2023) and now this, Shyamalan seems to be maturing as a director. His questionable tonal choices remain which only ends up hurting the performances of his various actors/actresses. Fortunately, the film’s musical element, which is prevalent throughout the majority of the film, is surprisingly pleasant. I didn’t need it nor did I expect it, but it elevates the film’s authenticity. If the pop star the plot heavily revolves around doesn’t sound good, I could see a large portion of the audience checking out early on.

Overall, this is a decent little thriller that’s slightly forgettable but for the most part, a decent way to kill two hours. If you’re familiar with Shyamalan’s work, you’ll know what to expect in terms of flaws. Although it’s annoying that his films still feature these flaws, there’s more to enjoy here than hate. Even some of the “bad” moments occasionally fall into the category of “so bad it’s good” or “intentionally cheesy.” That being said, these still mostly just make a person scratch their head. C+