Trap

M. Night Shyamalan’s run of independently-funded thrillers over the past nine years has given the filmmaker a much-needed shot in the arm to his once-flailing career. After a string of big-budget flops such as The Happening, The Last Airbender and After Earth, the filmmaker, once dubbed “The Next Spielberg”, returned to his roots of making original genre films. While 2019’s Glass, the conclusion to his Unbreakable trilogy, was a strong disappointment, his other recent films such as Old, Knock at the Cabin and The Visit have been a true return to form. His latest thriller is a contained, downright Hitchcockian thriller that maintains palpable tension even as it turns ludicrous.

Courtesy Warner Bros.

Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is a loving father taking his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert to see pop star Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan). At the concert, Cooper notices a heavy amount of armed guards and a sizable police presence. When inquiring to a member of the event staff, he learns the concert is partly a front to catch a serial killer known as The Butcher. As it turns out, Cooper IS the serial killer who is said to have left at least a dozen bodies in his path. With every entrance and exit being heavily guarded, Cooper must figure out a way to avoid the sting operation run by a lucrative FBI profiler, played by Polyana legend Hayley Mills.

The latest high-concept thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, Trap is a well-crafted powderkeg of suspense. While it’s not a particularly deep film, only skimming the surface of his lead killer’s motivations and his background, primarily his familial trauma, the narrative simplicity allows Shyamalan to focus on crafting an involving popcorn thriller that emphasizes tension over exposition. In refusing to revel in his lead’s psyche, Shyamalan places the audience in a unique position; rooting for the killer to escape the trap, before delving deeper into his mindset later in the third act. He, along with Hartnett’s performance, creates a memorable anti-hero.

Josh Hartnett, experiencing a career resurgence since his notable supporting role in the Best Picture-winning Oppenheimer, is downright sublime here. Conveying the loving family man who would do anything for his daughter with authenticity before switching to a cold and calculated killer often with the flicker of his eyes or the subtle mannerisms in his physicality, Hartnett is the perfect anchor to carry Shyamalan’s high-concept. The star is able to consistently trick the audience into falling for his easy-going father before flipping a switch into becoming an utter monster. He is terrifying in one moment, then infectiously lovable in the next, making the experience that much more gripping. Frankly, it’s a miraculous performance, one that makes you wonder why he hasn’t been an in-demand star for decades, as his career flatlined during the late 2000s/early 2010s.

Courtesy Warner Bros.

Shyamalan has often struggled in the past, but he skillfully balances a tricky tone, deftly mixing sly dark humor with white-knuckle suspense. The filmmaker has always taken clear influence from Hitchcock, but those influences are more overt here. The obvious, which is having the villain be the lead character, but also in how Shyamalan builds stakes, finding a myriad of creative avenues to continuously escalate tension. If done poorly, this premise could feel tired after the 30-minute mark, but there’s a great deal of twisted fun in watching Hartnett’s Cooper struggle to keep his dual lives separate. Whether it’s stealing employee key cards to gain access to private areas of the arena, wearing disguises and causing distractions for security personnel, watching Hartnett go to desperate lengths to avoid getting caught is a real thrill. Even smaller details such as Cooper looking for excuses to leave his daughter mid-concert to explore the arena becomes a key point of anxiety.

Shyamalan and Challengers DP Sayombhu Mukdeeprom make the concert setting feel grand and cinematic. Utilizing the tall 1:85 aspect ratio, the filmmaker shoots the concert setting from the lead character’s perspective, only allowing the camera to only get as close to the stage as our leads. This creates a palpable sense of immersion that perfectly conveys the feeling of paranoia from Hartnett’s killer. Many of the closeups on Hartnett, particularly in a sequence illuminated in beaming red lights, feel reminiscent of the iconic shots of Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo. Shyamalan even throws in a well-placed split diopter shot. Even as the third act switches things up and grows more narratively ambitious, while also simultaneously silly and clunkily written, Shyamalan retains his first grasp of nail-biting tension.

Shyamalan likely won’t be beating any nepotism allegations coming his way with his daughter Saleka portraying the pop star Lady Raven — who not only acts and sings, but wrote the many songs featured in the film. That said, the songstress is a gifted talent who has a natural screen presence and has one or two catchy pop songs featured in the film’s background. There are some heavy contrivances and far-fetched sequencing to get the narrative from point A to point B, but these narrative shortcuts are outmatched by a number of solid set pieces. It’s only in the long-winded final act where Shyamalan begins to lose grasp of the novelty of his premise.

Courtesy Warner Bros.

Trap is a considerably tense and nail-biting thriller positioned firmly on a career-best performance from star Josh Hartnett. Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan takes a few too many detours in his rather clunky final act, but his filmmaking prowess is once again on full display. This is pulpy fun from a master filmmaker who is having a blast delivering well-deserved popcorn entertainment.

Trap is now playing in theaters.