Director M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap” is honestly just that — a trap. The movie, which sells itself as a nail-biting thriller, is more effective as a comedy.
The newest installation in the Shyamalaniverse is a near-perfect theater experience — if you don't think too hard about the plot.
Shyamalan, whose resume includes films such as “The Sixth Sense” (1999) and “Old” (2021), creates buzz. Whether the buzz around his movies is good or god-awful is a coin toss.
“Trap” seems to land on its side.
The movie’s narrative glues two unlikely realities together. The film's first half is a pop concert with a setlist of songs by Lady Raven played by Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka Shyamalan. The second half is a thriller about the apprehension of a serial killer, played by Josh Hartnett, nicknamed “The Butcher” for the brutal dismemberment of his victims.
The two realities collide when the FBI uses the concert as a — you guessed it — trap to catch the killer after finding a ticket receipt at one of his safehouses.
With his 12-year-old daughter by his side, Hartnett’s character, a firefighter by day and serial killer by night, is now tasked with finding a way out.
In an infamous Shyamalanian twist, we find the trap was set in motion by The Butcher’s wife, who suspected him all along.
The movie tries to make its dark plot fit into this colorful setting, relying on a series of fortunate coincidences to make it work, a combination that is unapologetic in its awkwardness.
This is most apparent when Lady Raven, the pop star played by Saleka Shaymalan, uses a social media platform live feature to rally her fans to attempt to free one of the Butcher's victims.
Pleading with her fans from a digital soapbox, the popstar organizes her legion of teenage girls to successfully free the hostage.
The movie’s commentary on stan culture and the teenage fervor that looms over pop stars like a halo is spot on, and the way “Trap” makes Lady Raven an unlikely hero is almost reminiscent of a Marvel movie.
In this way, and many others, the movie hits the mark as a comedy but not quite a thriller.
The tonal difference between the movie's first and second hour is so stark that at times I felt I had been thrust into what I felt like was the serious part of the movie, even though I had just watched an hour's worth of content.
The reasoning for this difference can be found in Shaymalan’s own words: Trap is essentially a 30-million-dollar concert film for his daughter.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he explained how he worked closely alongside his daughter to create the film. They came up with the idea of putting on a real concert — a feat taking months of planning to achieve.
“It took months and months to think about that, with Saleka and I analyzing who this woman is and how she would put on a show,” Shyamalan said. “All of the crew members really got into, 'Let's put this on for real.' I mean, I'm live directing the cameras on the stage that are putting her on the big screens. There isn't any CGI.”
This could explain why the concert sequence felt so long. But this is not to say that Saleka Shyamalan’s role in the movie is bad. I actually enjoyed her music, but I came to the Regal at Butler Town Center to see “Trap,” not “Lady Raven Live in Concert.”
All that being said, I still had a great time.
Our less-than-moral protagonist finds any and every way to outsmart scores of police officers, SWAT and FBI agents, creating the type of comedy that only gets made on accident.
Despite all of his heinous crimes, it's impossible to watch this movie and not root for “The Butcher,” simply because everyone around him is so gullible.
It's a repeated gag that has the viewer glued to the screen, head in hands, asking, “What could he possibly do this time?”
And boy does M. Night Shyamalan do just what you least expect.
Rate: 5/10
Sydney Johnson is a third-year journalism major with a minor in education. In her free time, she enjoys crossword puzzles and sewing.
