TRAP (2024)
Starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill, Jonathan Langdon, Mark Bacolcol, Marnie McPhail, Kid Cudi, Russ, Marcia Bennett, Vanessa Smythe, Lochlan Miller, Steve Boyle, David D'Lancy Wilson, James Gomez, Nadine Hyatt, Michael Brown, Hailey Summer, Olivia Barrett, Allison Ference and M. Night Shyamalan.
Screenplay by M. Night Shyamalan.
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. 105 minutes. Rated PG-13.
It’s been a long time since anyone expected anything even approaching realism in a film by M. Night Shyamalan, but even for him, his latest film Trap rides upon a head-scratching number of coincidences and unrealistic plot points.
Even the basic premise of the film makes little sense. The FBI picks up on the fact that a vicious serial killer known as the Butcher will be going to a pop concert by a huge new teen superstar, and they decide to use the show – with its thousands of innocent bystanders, mostly young girls and their mothers – as a trap to capture the guy. Once the show starts, no one can leave the venue until they are interrogated by the law.
First things first – how do they know that this killer, who they have no name for or description of – will be at this show? (Towards the end of the film, the film does sort of explain away why they believe this, but honestly it kind of feels like a scriptwriter’s cop out.)
However, if they do truly believe he will be there, how is this trap supposed to work? There are about 3,000 adult men in the concert. They have no idea what he looks like, who he is, why he is there. All they know for sure is that he is very good at appearing normal and avoiding capture. Are they really planning on having in-depth interrogations of all the guys in the place before allowing anyone to leave? That would take hours or days. And even if they did that, how would they really know who was the murderer?
Then, when the actual killer recognizes the increased police presence, in another extremely unlikely plot point, he is able to get a stranger who he has just met – perhaps the most indiscreet merchandise worker in the world, to tell him exactly what the police plan is. Hell, the guy even gives him the secret password for employees to be able to move around the venue undisturbed by police. Now is that good luck, or just lazy writing?
That is not even touching on the super whopper of a coincidence in which a character (played by Shyamalan himself) essentially gives the killer the opportunity to possibly escape from the supposedly “unescapable” trap.
So, let’s face it, Trap will strain your credibility mercilessly. You won’t buy most of what it is selling. Which is not to say it’s necessarily a bad film. It does have some very good parts mixed in and a truly fantastic performance by Josh Hartnett as the normal goofy suburban father who is hiding the heart of a killer.
You just really won’t buy the story for a second. But, okay, allowing Shyamalan his premise, what does work?
Well, as noted before, Harnett continues his stealthy comeback with a terrific performance in the lead role. Hartnett is onscreen almost the entire running time of Trap, and even when what his character is saying or doing doesn’t make total sense, he sells it.
Also surprisingly good is the director’s daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, as pop star Lady Raven. When you hear of the casting it reeks of nepo-baby casting, particularly so quickly after he co-produced her sister’s debut film The Watchers. In the early scenes, it feels like Lady Raven is going to be a one-note character observed from afar, but as things move on and she becomes more integral to the plot, Saleka does surprisingly well. Even the music, which was written and performed by the actress, is better than you may expect.
The film also has a strong claustrophobic vibe, taking place almost entirely in one stadium.
Also, while you can see the ending coming from a mile away, for a change M. Night Shyamalan doesn’t try to leave things off with one last huge twist that makes the things that happened before even more ridiculous than they could be. The ability to finally let an ending happen organically may be Shyamalan’s biggest filmmaking Improvement in Trap.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 2, 2024.
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