'Trap' Review
I love M. Night Shyamalan’s breakthrough thriller “The Sixth Sense”. It’s on my 100 Favorite Movies list. Maybe even in the Top 50. But I’ve been hit and miss with the director over the past decade and a half. He delivered two clunkers in “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth” but began a comeback in 2015 with the solid “The Visit”. “Split” was a success, though follow-up “Glass” was a dud. I liked a lot of 2021’s “Old” but pretty much hated last year’s “Knock at the Cabin”.
So I didn’t quite know what to expect going into “Trap”, except I did know the hook. It’s the film’s biggest twist. Shyamalan usually saves the big story surprise for the final act or even the final scene. But it’s refreshing that he decided to go with this structure this time, allowing him to craft an intense and engaging thriller that doesn’t rely on some big, last-minute shocker to make it all make sense. And that allows us to sit back and enjoy the ride.
The first half of “Trap” is some of the best work of Shyamalan’s career. He presents a very grounded, authentic feel and atmosphere of an arena concert for pop singer Lady Raven (played by M. Night’s daughter, and real-life recording artist, Saleka Shyamalan, who’s pretty good in a role much larger than her dad’s usual cameo appearances). Attendees include father and daughter Cooper and Riley Adams (Josh Hartnett and Ariel Donoghue are both terrific). But Cooper’s got a big, dark secret, and the concert is being used to try to end his reign of terror.
Hartnett sells it with his facial expressions. You can see the panic, frustration, fear and rage in Cooper’s eyes as he looks around the arena, down hallways, and at Riley, trying to figure out if he can (literally and emotionally) escape. Hayley Mills… yes, the Hayley Mills from 1961’s “The Parent Trap”, plays FBI profiler Dr. Josephine Grant, who’s determined to catch Cooper (though she doesn’t know it’s him quite yet). Through great pacing and nice plot developments, Shyamalan delivers a memorable and entertaining saga.
And then there’s more. I don’t completely hate what happens in the back half of “Trap”, but it’s definitely messier and more ordinary compared to what comes before. And reality gradually slips away. Shyamalan gives himself the opportunity to include some effective social commentary, though it gets a little lost as you’re trying to comprehend why certain characters do the things they do, and where they do them. (Trying to be as spoiler-free as possible here.)
But what occurs isn’t disastrous, and it doesn’t ruin the experience of “Trap” as a whole. It’s just one of those cases where if you come across it someday on HBO (this is Shyamalan’s return to Warner Bros. following a five-picture run with Universal), you’ll re-watch the best parts before changing the channel at that point.
