Will we get “The Sixth Sense” M. Night Shyamalan or “Knock at the Cabin” M. Night Shyamalan? That’s the trap viewers get caught in every time one of his films come out, and “Trap” is no exception.
While not as relentlessly stupid as last year’s “Knock at the Cabin,” and boasting some positive traits in a vacuum, “Trap” has be chalked up as another of this notoriously hit-and-miss writer-director’s failures. It’s among the most frustrating of his misfires since a viewer can clearly see every step where it goes wrong.
It starts off decent, with a quite original premise: A father, Cooper (Josh Hartnett, good to see him again), and daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue), attend an arena concert by pop sensation Lady Raven (Night’s daughter Saleka Shyamalan). Cooper spots an inordinate number of uniformed cops throughout the crowd and on the concourse.
“Trap” (2024)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan
So we get an appealing vibe combining the buzz of an upcoming concert, the cuteness of the father-daughter bonding, and the mystery of what’s up with the cops. And then “Trap” makes its first mistake.
Butchering a good concept (Spoilers)
(SPOILERS FOLLOW.)
We’re rather clearly told that Cooper himself is The Butcher, the serial killer the cops are looking for. I could feel the air deflate from the movie when Cooper checks a video feed on his phone while in a restroom stall, ensuring that his latest captive is still tied up in a basement.
I’ve always gotten the sense that Night carefully plans out his films, but by that same token, he is almost arrogantly stubborn and will not adjust the plan. “Trap” clearly would’ve been better if Hartnett was playing Cooper both ways – on first viewing, he’s a good person; on second viewing, he was the killer all along.
That’s the first of several directorial mistakes; another is the casting of Saleka. Obviously, we know how she got the gig. But to be fair, I think she’s inoffensive – and actually quite believable — as the pop star. The songs are her own, and although she won’t challenge Taylor Swift on the charts, I bet interest in her music has increased after this film among her demographic.
As an actress, she’s notably bad. In a remarkably poorly devised scene, Lady Raven grabs Cooper’s phone while it’s on the captive’s video feed and runs into the bathroom. Conceptually, the notion that she marshals her force of fans to help find the captive is a nice reversal of the assumed shallowness of a superstar’s social-media interactions with admirers.
But the staging of this dramatic sequence is nuts. We focus entirely on Raven as she announces to Riley and her mom (Alison Pill; nice to see her again, although she deserves better) and brother outside the door that Cooper is The Butcher. So we’re robbed of the most pivotal moment of the film: the reactions of the family to this announcement. Would they believe it? If so, what sways them? And how does Cooper react? Can he sway his family to his side?
Against the grain and down the drain (Spoilers)
It’s true that I’m describing a typical flow of cinematic events, and that “Trap” goes against the grain. And yes, I’d rather a film be experimental and fail than be safe and boring. But it’s so obvious that Night’s choices drain suspense rather than enhance it that I’m tempted to describe his directorial style as stubborn.
Before the events run their course, we’re hit with more idiotic things, like when Cooper grabs a bicycle spoke to pick his handcuffs as a dozen armed guards look on, somehow oblivious. But honestly, it’s not the stupidity of individual moments – or the broad nonsensical idea that the authorities would try to trap a serial killer amid thousands of bystanders — that breaks this “Trap.”
(END OF SPOILERS.)
The problem is the consistent (after a respectable opening 15 minutes) lack of suspense for a supposed suspense film, and lack of horror for a supposed horror film.
I’m not one of those people who think’s Shyamalan’s entire post-“Sixth Sense” career is garbage; he’s made additional good films. I think “The Visit” is a small but masterful horror film, and I’m one of those “Old” apologists.
However, with “Trap” – as with “Knock at the Cabin” — we’re once again hit with the bizarre incongruity that the guy who gave us “The Sixth Sense” can also deliver brazenly incompetent works of horror/suspense.