Trap

Film: Trap

Year: 2024

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Writer: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue and Saleka Shyamalan

Review:

This is a movie that caught my attention during the previews at a couple different theaters I go to. Seeing that this had Josh Hartnett in it and then written/directed by M. Night Shyamalan was enough for me. Something that was frustrating was that the parts of the trailer I saw, it gave away the reveal. It would be part of why I no longer watch them as well. There is more to this though. I did see this on the opening Friday with my wife, Jaime, at the Gateway Film Center.

Synopsis: a father and teen daughter attend a pop concert only to realize they’ve entered the center of a dark and sinister event.

We start this with our father/daughter duo parking to go to the concert in the synopsis. Cooper (Hartnett) seems like a normal enough guy. He makes bad jokes and does things to mess with his daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue). She is beyond excited to see her favorite singer, Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan). As they approach the venue, Cooper notices an increased police presence. I thought that this was an interesting thing to introduce early that he is aware of his surroundings. What we’ll learn is that he’s a firefighter, so that would track. I’m not in a profession like this, but I do similar things.

They go to their seats where the opening act is playing. Cooper seems uneasy with all the police and says things to his daughter that make her question why he’s being weird. It isn’t until an intermission that Cooper learns what is going on. Jamie (Jonathan Langdon), who works at a merch table, reveals that the police are here to catch ‘The Butcher’, a local serial killer. They caught word he’d be here and this concert was set up as a trap.

This bit here is what I thought was a spoiler originally is that the trailer reveals this killer is Cooper. He has Spencer (Mark Bacolcol) locked in a basement with a camera to watch him. The reveal of Cooper’s dark side is done in the opening act as this movie isn’t about figuring out who the killer is. It is watching him as he tries to escape this trap. The amount of police makes it difficult. Even more so that a criminal profiler, Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills), seems to be able to predict his every move. It then becomes a cat and mouse game as Cooper charms as well as works those around him. It even makes him question slipping out by himself, if it means alluding capture.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to then start is that I debated, even revealing the truth about who Cooper was. That would have made my brief recap even shorter. What I originally had in my head was that would be something that we learn later. In my opinion, this isn’t a secret. I’ll get into why here in a second. The last thing then to bring up here is that this is Shyamalan doing a Hitchcockian thriller as well.

Now that I’ve set that up, let’s discuss the character of Cooper. What I was alluding to is that I love that fact that we get this quick baseline of him where we think that he’s just a normal dad. Maybe he’s a bit awkward, but he’s doing a good thing by bringing his daughter to this concert. He’s trying his hardest to fit in. Riley is being bullied by Jody (Harley Ruznisky) and other girls that she thought were her friends. There are recurring interactions with Jody’s mom, played by (Marnie McPhail). It is as events go on and the tension grows, we see that awkwardness is more him pretending to be ‘normal’. Hartnett’s acting is off, but I think that is by design. He’s a sociopath trying to be like everyone else so we see cracks. This reminds me of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. The bigger thing here is that Cooper has a family so he can blend easier. I’ll confirm here that Hartnett was solid.

Where I then want to go over to would be the type of story we're getting. I've heard people having issues that they said this was marketed as a serial killer film. It is that. The killer is the butcher and we hear from Dr. Grant that he chops up his victims. I'd contend that this isn't the fault of the movie. That is an issue with the marketing team and managing you as the viewer with expectations. Since I came in just knowing that a trap was set to catch the killer, I went along for the ride of where they took me. If anything, this plays more, as I said, like a Hitchcockian thriller. It is about the cat and mouse game of Cooper trying to get out of the trap that is set. There is more to it as well with reveals as we go.

I do have issues with this as well. A big one for me is that I don't think decisions that get made are all realistic. There are multiple moments where Cooper is stopped by SWAT team members. He can talk his way out of at least one, which is fine. There are others where he is cleared by characters. I'm not sure this would always happen as it does. There are also things that are nitpicks later where it makes for a good scene or to extend the movie out. It just feels too convenient. I'm not going to dock the score too much. That is what makes a Hitchcockian film and let's be honest, things that happen in our real world seem too wild to be true.

That should be enough story-wise so let's shift to the acting. Hartnett doesn't always act like a normal person. This is a gripe that I have in Shyamalan films. Here, I let it slide though. Cooper is a sociopath who is trying to be normal. That works. Donoghue is fine as the daughter. Saleka Shyamalan works as well. Everything when she's performing is good. My only issue is when she becomes a character, we follow that I don't think she's as strong. Pill is good as the wife. I like Mills in her role as the profiler. Langdon adds levity. I do like the manipulation with him as well. Other than that, we got a cameo by M. Night. The rest of the cast rounded this out for what is needed.

I'll then end this out with filmmaking. There are nods here once again to Hitchcock. We get these almost portrait shots of characters that is taken straight from The Birds. McPhail even looks like that woman from the classic. I thought that was interesting. Capturing the feel of how big this arena is while still feeling small with how restricted the police officers makes it was good to build tension. The framing was good as well. We don't get much in the effects, it also doesn't need it. Other than that, I thought the soundtrack fit. The songs that Saleka sings feel like a popstar. I'll also credit the 'gimmicks' for certain sets there. The rest of the soundtrack worked for what was needed.

In conclusion, this is a solid modern take on what made Hitchcock famous. I like what they're doing with filmmaking with nods directly to the master filmmaker. The cinematography, framing and capturing the feel of where it is set was good. Even though Hartnett doesn't act like a normal person, I think that is good for the character. The rest of the cast are fine to push him to where things end up. I already see this is a polarizing film. I don't love this one, but I enjoyed what it was doing. I'd say manage your expectations and just go along for the ride.

My Rating: 7 out of 10