Trap

 

“This whole concert, it’s a trap.”

Tense, taught and teasing, Trap is an entertaining game of clunky cat-and-mouse antics with a charismatically terrifying Josh Hartnett, some great suspense and a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief in a cheesy and charming serial killer stalking experience sure to engage and entertain. 

Discussion Points:

Yeah it’s a lil clunky. Yeah it looses some steam by the end. Yes there are a few plot holes and leaps in logic. But it’s also just a really enjoyable popcorn flick. Josh Hartnett is great as a cheesy dad with a dark side, and he really revels in the moments to lean into the psychopathy. Given the film is from M. Night Shyamalan, I was expecting more twists and turns, but the film is pretty much what the trailers packaged it as - a serial killer being stalked by law enforcement at a pop concert. And it delivers that. The pop concert is a great setting and the music by  Saleka Shyamalan really works and she gets some great moments as Lady Raven. The suspenseful cat-and-mouse antics leave the audience oddly rooting for a brutal butcher, not that the audience actually sees much of his butchering. The film is almost oddly squeamish - showing none of the horrors the lead has committed, and making him far more likeable as a result. I genuinely was waiting for it to be revealed that he was a third party hunting the killer because of a personal vendetta but no such twist came. He is the Butcher and he almost got away with it too… if it weren’t for those meddling FBI. Overall, despite its occasional clunkiness, I had a really good time with this and I reckon it’s time we agree that Shyamalan is truly back and has been for quite some time now.