A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event
REVIEW:
I suspect every kid has suspected, at one point, their dad might be a serial killer. The more he loved you, the more you thought he wanted to kill you. It’s probably a common anxiety fantasy of children of divorce.
Trap, M. Night Shyamalan’s latest twisty puzzler, doesn’t give into those feelings until the second half, —and it isn’t through the serial killer’s actual daughter Riley (Ariel Donighue), but the faux one, the one with all the fame and adoration, the pop star Lady Raven do we see it play out. Raven is played by Shyamalan’s actual daughter, Saleka. The first half is a reasonably staged trap, a mouse trap say, designed to catch the “Butcher” daddy Cooper (Josh Hartnett). The concert is just a pretense to take Trap home where the actual father-daughter psychodrama can play out. And since half of it takes place with Saleka locked in the bathroom and Hartnett furiously trying to pound down the door and pop his head through it, a weird The Shining parallel is playing itself out.
Hartnett is very good at playing off his nice guy creds, the image that has kept him from spreading his acting wings most of his career. Everyone is deceived by his niceness. The audience knows the ruse and is just waiting for the eye narrowing moments of plotting.
Shyamalan boosts the cleverness and feigns the control. The parental and child dynamics are constantly being switched. The pop star sub child has daddy issues. The serial killer has latent mommy issues. They’re both fighting for and trying to reject the approval of the wrong person. The other Shyamalan daughter, Ishana aspires to be his cinematic heir. I suspect there is some criticism and approval therapy-jealousy subconsciously playing itself out.
Trap is at its best when Shyamalan plays with the variations of this concept stuck inside his head. The movie’s heart is simply a story of a dad and a daughter and the puzzles he must solve to stay in her life. Hartnett and Donoghue do have a natural chemistry and charm together. It’s easy to see why Shyamalan needed to create an id daughter for the negative impulses swirling inside. Rooting for Riley’s happiness also means cheering for Cooper. Shyamalan delights in reminding us that there are victims and sacrifices that go with this. Digging into Cooper’s head oddly works against the tension of the film. The family drama can only make up so much before the usual plot tricks need to be pulled out.
The concert part is a pretty good simulation of the Taylor Swift arena experience. The rhythms of the show seem authentic. The cult, spiritual experience is reflected in it’s officially approved and licensed fashion stylings that adorn the flock and the moment of personal reflection and trauma that gets a lit iPhone reception which become a moment of shared pain. So too, the egomaniacal surprise guest with his backstage temper tantrums and vanity demands. Saleka wrote the mostly passable songs. Nepo baby fingerprints abound all over this murder scene. I love my daughter and it’s not a crime Shyamalan is saying loudly and proudly.
Trap gets a 3.0/5 or a B.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Written by
M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by
- Ashwin Rajan
- Marc Bienstock
- M. Night Shyamalan
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by
Noëmi Preiswerk
Music by
Herdís Stefánsdóttir
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
- July 24, 2024(Alice Tully Hall)
- August 2, 2024(United States)
Running time
105 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$30 million
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