Trap is a patently ridiculous movie. An absurd concept milked with such ferocious thoroughness that it cannot help but to enter into wildly far-fetched territories. It’s a big, dumb thriller painted in bright, broad strokes, and it pays no attention to logic in any way whatsoever.
It’s also one of M. Night Shyamalan’s finest works to date. You see, sometime after the shameful era where we all decided he was a hack (which was right after the era where we all decided he was the next Spielberg), Philly’s favorite son seemed to take a step back from pursuing prestige, instead focusing on tight, idiosyncratic thrillers. He won back the favor of the masses (not me, I stayed with him the whole way, jussayin), and in doing so ended up highlighting something that his die hard fans already knew: Shyamalan knows how to direct a movie. Be it a moody thriller (The Sixth Sense), a strange adaptation of a stranger book (Knock at the Cabin), a small scale alien invasion flick (Signs), or even a novelty found footage flick (The Visit), Shyamalan is a master of turning any setting into something uniquely cinematic. We can argue until we’re blue in the face about his powers as a writer (and I will gladly do so to anyone who challenges me), but there’s no denying that the man knows how to work a camera.
With Trap, Shyamalan’s powers are in full display, this time setting a sooooorta single location thriller at a pop concert. The act is Lady Raven, a star of Swiftian influence played with gusto by Saleka Shyamalan (whose real life music is used). Attending the concert is Cooper (Josh Hartnett) and his daughter, Lady Raven superfan, Riley (Ariel Donoghue). For Cooper and Riley, the concert is a gift in celebration of a great report card, but for local law enforcement the concert is doubling as a trap, which is the name of the movie. You see, there’s a serial killer on the loose, and the cops, under the guidance of a criminal profiler (Hayley Mills) have it on good authority that The Butcher, as he is called, is attending the show. No man is to leave the building without first being interviewed by the fuzz, and every single exit is covered by a SWAT team.
This is a problem for Cooper, because Cooper is The Butcher.
This is not a spoiler, nor is it a misdirect. Trap comes right out of the gate with this information, setting the viewer up to be on board with an objectively evil protagonist. But what makes it fun is the simple fact that Cooper is a really really REALLY great Dad. From the way he jokes with his daughter to the way he regularly gives her strong emotional support, he’s the type of father that any child would dream of having.
Shame about all that other stuff he does.
It’s a stroke of brilliance for Shyamalan to give us such a complicated protagonist, and I use that word intentionally. Cooper is a dangerous dude. They don’t call him The Butcher because he doesn’t kill people. But at the same time, Riley is having the best night of her young life, and we get the sense that it’s something she really needs. You hate to see it ruined! In this regard, Donoghue might give the performance of the film. Granted, it’s less showy than what Hartnett puts forth, but it’s needed to help sell us on the film’s first two acts. I say this with nothing but reverence for Hartnett, who gives what may be the best performance of his career. If not the best, at least the one that requires him to disappear into the role further than any that have come before.
For the most part, the first two acts adhere to the single location formula. Cooper juggles his patriarchal responsibilities with his desire to, ya know, not spend the rest of his life in jail. This places the viewer into a unique space, tying our allegiances into knots while the tension ratchets up to near unbearable levels. This leads to a natural deflation that occurs in the third act which some are sure to find offputting. That said, the film’s closing reels are where the escalations get truly manic, and if you’re into this sort of thing, the aforementioned deflation will not be felt.
An interesting thing to note is that Trap doubles as a concert film for Saleka Shyamalan, and for what it’s worth, her big debut looks like it would be a solid live show! Her tunes are fantastic, and the stage production is as grandiose and sparkly as one would expect from a pop act. Fascinating that Shyamalan would make a film about a dad struggling to find work/life balance as a way to explore his own anxieties. Luckily for us, Shyamalan’s work is in film, not murder, and as such, he can involve his family in it if he so chooses. Call it self-serving, call it a nepo-baby in the making, or call it what it is: explosive entertainment.
Two added notes:
- Hayley Mills came to fame in The Parent Trap. HA FUCKING HA, Shyamalan!
- Kid Cudi is quickly becoming a reliable genre presence. I can’t wait until he becomes a leading man.
- Alison Pill steals the third act and has to do a TON of expositional heavy lifting. She handles it very well. It’s so odd seeing her play the mother of a teenager, because it means that I’m old.
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Written by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Alison Pill, Jonathan Langdon
Rated PG-13, 105 minutes
