Trap, 2024.
Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill, Marnie McPhail, Vanessa Smythe, Jonathan Langdon, Marcia Bennett, Lochlan Ray Miller, Scott Mescudi, and M. Night Shyamalan.
SYNOPSIS:
A father and his teen daughter attend a pop concert only to realize they’ve entered the center of a dark and sinister event.
Trap, the latest from twisty writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, requires a suspension of disbelief so comically large that one wonders if the movie is a 4-D chess exercise in social commentary takedown of law enforcement incompetence. It is also seemingly so transparent about what is happening, which is unusual for this particular filmmaker obsessed with pulling the rug out from underneath viewers (although admittedly to a lesser extent since his resurgence roughly a decade ago) that there is also a stubbornness to refuse to accept that all is as it seems. Then there is, at least from this critic’s perspective, that M. Night Shyamalan has a spotty past handling all types of mental illnesses (notoriously in The Village, which has apparently been reappraised as a brilliant work…), which also comes into play here. All of this collides into a catastrophic pile-up that, in what feels like a cinematic middle finger, more than outstays its welcome by transitioning into a different style of cat-and-mouse game during what any sensible filmmaker would have crafted as one climactic sequence, not several.
Yes, there is much heat coming from this review, primarily because the ingredients for something utterly horrifying about white upper-class suburbia and how we might not know the people we think we know closest are present here. In the hands of M. Night Shyamalan, it’s another parading of human behavior interactions that never once come across as believable, which is also a huge damn problem when the point of the film is not only to instill suspense but a psychological mind game between a serial killer, an expert profiler (Hayley Mills), and law enforcement who have taken extreme measures to catch the culprit. M. Night Shyamalan might be the only filmmaker where AI would actually improve the script.
Anyway, the location for this sting is a packed concert venue for fictional popstar Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan, an actual singer/songwriter) that dad Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is taking his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to as a reward for getting high grades. This also means that, in the first of many questionable creative decisions, a good portion of the movie is also a concert film featuring empty, forgettable songs and performances that, sorry to be cynical, seemingly only exist here as a means for father to shine a spotlight on his daughter’s aspiring musical career.
That choice also gives Trap an awkward structure that sees Cooper leaving the seating area in between songs to do whatever the script requires him to do next, and then return beside Riley so they can take in the next song. This constant running back and forth also makes no logistical sense (I’m supposed to believe someone can go to the bathroom in such a crowded arena and only miss half of one song?) Nevertheless, one can appreciate pulling off the challenge of using what must have been hundreds of extras inside the concert venue
Again, M. Night Shyamalan also doesn’t appear to be hiding the identity of the serial killer, although no one should be faulted for remaining skeptical that there will be a late swerve. Cooper, in between songs, is scouting the area for an escape route while playing coy to Riley about why he keeps leaving. He also has run-ins with the mother of a friend who has been pushing Riley out of their group. For the most part, though, he pulls off a string of ridiculous and unbelievable moves to disguise himself as someone with firsthand knowledge of the sting, with a walkie-talkie in hand to listen in on important conversations regarding each step of the plan.
Josh Hartnett’s performance is also modulated in such an over-the-top friendly way in the first hour that it feels inauthentic and an attempt at extreme misdirection (surely the guy who acts like a far-too-happy and smiley weirdo to everyone he comes into contact with won’t actually be the serial killer, will he?) He does get to moments to shine with some intensity later on.
When the setting changes, Trap finally makes that leap into thriller territory. However, even that is repetitively botched considering that, by that point, it’s time for the movie to wrap up since no matter how long it keeps going, M. Night Shyamalan isn’t going to find anything interesting to say about the topics here. Secondly, it’s all telegraphed that this is going to go on and on and on in ways that will have actual magicians throwing their hats into the air and calling bullshit. It could be argued that Trap doesn’t even have an ending. That’s all nonsensical and poor the quality is here; it’s from a filmmaker who constantly starts writing in a blurry, rushed haze and rarely takes a minute to ponder and dive into what actually makes the concept terrifying.
Open up IMDb, close your eyes, and start typing. The screen will show a director who could have executed Trap better than M. Night Shyamalan.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
