trap‘s premise sounds tailor-made to play to M. Night Shyamalan’s twisty strengths, and might even be indicative of the modern superstar turning his concerts into cinematic events. But despite its promise, the thriller loses steam almost immediately. Shyamalan’s latest is a convoluted misstep with some interesting ideas that aren’t enough to stop it from feeling like a notable low point in the director’s film history.
In the first act, trap Introducing mild-mannered father Cooper Adams (Josh Hartnett) and his daughter Riley (Ariel Donohue), the two head downtown to watch superstar Lady Raven (Saleika Shah). Ma Lan)’s concert. Although Cooper himself didn’t quite understand the singer’s appeal, she was everything to his daughter. Riley was dealing with some friend drama at school, and Cooper was more than happy to distract her with a few hours of live music.
Almost everyone who met the Addamses thought they were just another father-daughter duo keen to watch the show. However, Cooper has a secret – he’s a serial killer and his next victim is trapped in a dungeon. You can feel the influence of serial killer dramas e.g. you and Dexter on the way trap Juxtapose moments of domestic banality with footage of Cooper furtively, twitchingly glancing at his phone to watch a live stream of the person he next plans to murder. But the Shyamalan twist on it all comes early trap It was determined that the Lady Crow concert was actually an elaborate ploy to drive Cooper out.
trap Inspired by a 1985 flagship operation, U.S. Marshals and Washington police lured wanted criminals to the Washington Convention Center with the promise of free football tickets. Shyamalan builds on this real history to imagine how a Taylor Swift-like concert, filled with thousands of screaming teenagers, could be a weapon against a monster. but as trap Through this thought exercise, the film quickly became bound by its core idea.
Part of the problem is how trap Even for a Shyamalan film, it’s unbelievable that Cooper uses his constant “trips to the merch table” to learn more about how the police plan to catch him. The police were pulling people out of the auditorium and they wouldn’t let people leave without being interviewed. But these dangers never feel particularly urgent to Cooper, as he’s able to avoid them effortlessly thanks to the plot armor Shyamalan puts on him out of necessity.
You’re supposed to interpret Cooper’s strange behavior as part of his antisocial personality, as he keeps sneaking away from his daughter at concert venues. cooper have Slips away in order to really get the movie moving. Otherwise, things would come to a screeching halt. but trap It becomes increasingly difficult to take seriously as Cooper’s situation forces him to take a series of increasingly ridiculous and not entirely exciting chances to evade capture.
Cooper’s way of navigating is ridiculous trapThis cat-and-mouse game almost feels like Shyamalan is trying to say what kind of people are considered a threat to society. As Cooper, Harnett is completely uncharismatic, and his interactions with Riley have an awkwardness that’s not entirely intentional. But he was a handsome white man, which seemed to be enough to prevent people from noticing his obvious weirdness.
If Cooper’s escape technique (which serves as the film’s set piece) is accomplished less by convenient happenstance, trap It might have worked better as a straight-up thriller about predators becoming prey. But the film goes to such ridiculous lengths to keep the story going that it feels like Shyamalan never had a solid idea in the first place.
everything about trap, From its story to the fact that it’s also become a vehicle for his daughter’s career as a musician, it all feels like it’s exactly the kind of project Shyamalan, who has often self-financed films since 2015, was looking forward to. I also make a cameo in it. But Shyamalan’s presence in the film is a bit distracting, and has a way of calling attention to itself: trapThe characters in the film speak to the camera in an annoying tone, which the director often loves.
Conceptually, this is one of Shyamalan’s most interesting films, but it’s so grounded that it ultimately feels like a trap the director has set for himself. It’s a testament to his ability to come up with original ideas, but that alone isn’t always enough to make for a good time on film.
