Trap is the newest film from writer, director, visionary, dream weaver, plus actor- M. Night Shyamalan. The king of the plot twist once again returns with a fiery vengeance to entertain us. Now I know this may lose a lot of people just seeing his name, but trust me, you will want to stick around for this one. Josh Hartnett is so back and in full charming dad mode.
Trap centers on Cooper, a family man taking his daughter to see a concert for the pop sensation Lady Raven. As the concert progresses, Cooper notices an increase in security that includes the police and S.W.A.T teams surrounding the place. After gaining intel from a vendor (more on him later), Cooper learns the whole concert is a trap for a serial killer known as The Butcher.
M. Night Shyamalan – “Trap” – Official Trailer
I know those of you who have not seen this movie yet might be groaning at that description, but I am going to level with you — cinema is back. Grab your Lady Raven merch, keep an eye out for any suspicious characters, and enjoy the rest of the concert! Today we are talking about M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap! Spoilers are definitely going to be ahead, so proceed beyond this point with caution.
A Fan of the Artist: M. Night Shyamalan’s Greatness
M. Night Shyamalan – a true veteran of the industry. Say whatever you want about the man, but I will always have a spot in my heart for him. Unbreakable is still disgustingly underrated today. The Sixth Sense is a classic for a reason. The Village is still a solid flick. Old and The Happening are movies that he made for sure and I love them immeasurably. I am a fan and you get it.
Ever since 2015’s The Visit, it seems that Shyamalan has been on a bit of a hot streak. I remember that film had a lot of people talking which he then followed up with 2016’s Split. Not only did he officially re-establish himself, but helped put Anya Taylor-Joy in the spotlight with a stellar performance from Mr. James McAvoy. Following that, Shyamalan continued in the Unbreakable–Verse with Glass which received some mixed reactions, but nothing that really damaged his flow.
Next came Old. Personally, Old is what cinema is all about and I will not hear otherwise. Finally we conclude things with 2023’s Knock at the Cabin. Truly and genuinely, I had a great time with that one – and that solidified for me that Mr. Night was so back.
Pre-Show Jitters: Expectations
This all brings us to 2024 with Trap. When I tell you that my hype for this was as real as it can get, know that I mean business. So much was given away in the trailers, but honestly that did not change how ready I was for this movie.
Before seeing the movie with my girlfriend, we watched all of the available trailers. I felt like I was actually headed into a concert — the editing was on point, the chosen dialogue was rad, and all the while Josh Hartnett was on the screen. It does not get any better than that.
With all of that previous knowledge on how good M. Night Shyamalan has been lately, and my white hot excitement for this movie, it is safe to say I wanted a lot out of it. Mr. Night went full on psycho killer in his trailers and set this baby up to be something great. But what about the movie itself?
Local Vendors: My Favorite Character
We can talk turkey in a sec, but I desperately need to address my favorite part of this movie. Jonathan Langdon gives one of the greatest performances of any Shyamalan movie. I am so serious. I love Jamie the T-Shirt vendor. Shyamalan even knew how great Jamie was since he gave him his own mid-credit scene! Aside from Josh Hartnett, Jamie was the main reason I was so excited to see Trap.
One of the greatest bits of dialogue in all of modern cinema comes from Jamie in the trailer. We see him talking to Cooper and he hits us with some absolute fire. “Now I’m not supposed to tell…” is my favorite line of the year. The greatness does not even stop there. Jamie gives us everything we need to know about what movie we are about to get into. “This whole concert? It’s a trap.” is one of the hardest lines ever.
M. Night Shyamalan has this rare ability to make his side characters and background actors stick out. For better or worse, you can leave every single one of his movies talking about your favorite side character. I am looking at you, Jeremy Strong in The Happening and Ken Leung in Old. Coming out of Trap, it was so clearly going to be Jamie. I love him. I love him a lot, and I thought he was the perfect character to ease us into the rest of the movie.
Words to the Songs: Dialogue
In the year of our Leung 2024, Mr. Night still cannot write good dialogue. For the most part, I did not hate the dialogue. It was not bad, but far from his best. Take that how you will. While this movie was an overall great time, there were still portions of dialogue, and even entire scenes, that were slightly off due to the wonkiness of the dialogue.
Most of the fun in this movie comes from the lack of any dialogue. Showing the wheels in Cooper’s brain turning rather than telling us they are turning is exactly what should be happening. Shyamalan often overdoes it with dialogue, and it is bad dialogue at that. Luckily, Cooper/ Josh Hartnett is good at talking (mostly) only when he needs to.
Dialogue Continued
As perfect as Jamie is – and he is perfect – his introduction with Cooper was so bizarre. Jamie tells Cooper and his daughter they are a good family with good morals when all they did was let the people in front of them actually purchase something before them.
Between my girlfriend and I, we were, and still are, so jarred that this was a moment of dialogue that actually happened. You mean he’s a good man, because he did the most normal thing? I love this movie.
There are not many other specific examples that immediately come to mind, but you can immediately tell you are watching a film by Mr. Night, because every sentence is always a word or two off from being things that normal people say. In the complete scheme of Shyamalan’s career, the dialogue falls more on the inoffensive side of things, in my opinion, but that still does not mean things sound normal.
The Star of the Show: Josh Hartnett
This world does not have enough Josh Hartnett. We have been absolutely spoiled with a heaping handful of Josh Hartnett over the past year alone. He returned big with a supporting role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, another supporting role in FX’s The Bear Season 3, and led his own episode of Black Mirror. Suffice to say, we are so back and we are eating great.
With this being his first major lead role in some time, there was definitely a lot of hope that we would see something special. Hartnett is a hunk, yes, but in Trap, Josh goes full dad mode and it is so disarmingly charming. Hartnett is great at turning on a dime from dorky lovable dad to unhinged manipulative serial killer.
Even in the final moments of the film when we know exactly who and what he is, he laughs a bit and I can see both a lovable dork and the deranged killer. Call it a good script, good direction, or Josh’s own charisma, but I thought Hartnett really killed it here.
Cooper Continued
He really nailed that line of goofy or grave, which helped this movie maintain its fun or dark tones while remaining fun the entire way. Cooper even had that fit on though. For Halloween, I will try to convince my girlfriend to dress as either Lady Raven or Jamie so I can go as Cooper AKA The Butcher. Look, the moral of this entire story is that I liked Hartnett in Trap.
There are so many parts of me that want more of this character, because of how fun he was to watch. However, several other parts of me are against it, because this was a perfect amount of everything. However there is one character I need more of, and I need them in my veins constantly.
Local Vendor Reprieve: Jamie
I did a section on Jamie already, yes, but he is an integral character to more than just this movie. While watching the movie he shaped my vernacular in real time. Major props and love go out to the man himself Jonathan Langdon for his all-time great performance here. I love it. I love Jamie so much. He was so funny and authentic that I do not think Langdon was actually acting here.
This will likely be the last I talk of Jamie, but I needed to give him another section to address how near and dear he is to me. I can not go 12 minutes without quoting him. This whole concert? It’s a trap. Utterly flawless dialogue that I will never forget.
Backup Dancers: Supporting Cast
Contrary to everyone I have talked about so far, there are actually more people in this film besides Jamie and Cooperr. The main attraction for this concert is a fictionalized popstar named Lady Raven, played by the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, Saleka Shyamalan. One thing I am eternally grateful for with this movie, is how this whole movie was not just a ploy for Mr. Night to show off his talented daughter.
Fortunately, Saleka was pretty good! The question remains to be answered whether she was good in this movie under her dad’s direction or if she can hang in other projects with other directors. When Josh Hartnett hits us with “enjoy the rest of the concert”, I absolutely did. Thanks, Saleka!
One of my favorite bits in Old is when one of the protagonists, Maddox- the 11 year old daughter, sees famed rapper Mid Sized Sedan. There are no proper ways for me to describe how odd Shyamalan directed her teen excitement to see a celebrity. Going into this, I was curious how visceral or strange the fan reactions were going to be towards Lady Raven.
Here is that word again — fortunately, I think M. Night Shyamalan got the energy right when it came to Raven’s chaotic fans. Big shout outs go to the extras who played Raven’s fans. They got that down.
The People that Made this Happen: Supp. Cast Cont’d
Love is also due to Cooper’s family. Allison Pill is always wonderful to see and the actors who played Riley and Logan, Cooper’s kids, were fine. Everyone did their job and fit comfortably together to give Cooper’s facade more weight. And now we have to address two characters that perplex me for different reasons: Parker Wayne and The Thinker.
In our world, we recognize Parker Wayne as Russ and The Thinker as Kid Cudi. Both characters are perfect representations of their real performers. The entire time Russ was on screen he just meandered up to the stage, sang a little song, then bounced out. Russ gave us absolutely nothing of note or substance. Scotty, on the other hand, mesmerized all of us with his everything.
First off, his name is The Thinker and that is so great. Secondly, we are looking at a blonde haired and sassy version of Cudi that this often cruel world sorely needs. In the few minutes The Thinker was on screen, we learned so much about him. Look, Jamie is the best character in this movie. I am not taking that back… but man, The Thinker was so funny.
Concert Recap: Plot
Much like the beach that makes you old, the concert that’s a trap is a simple and great idea. If you summarize all of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies into one sentence they all sound ridiculous and have varying degrees of success in their executions. Trap is by far his most intriguing plot. What do you mean there’s a gigantic concert that is actually a plot to capture a serial killer? That rips so hard.
Although there was a small “twist” — if you can even call it that — there did not need to be anything twisty here. In the end, nothing was inherently a twist, but more of the actual plot happening… and that was great! All this movie needed to be was about The Butcher escaping the concert from the police and S.W.A.T. and that is exactly what we got.
Throughout the movie, I felt like I was watching a Hitman mission. There were several opportunities for different outcomes and ways to escape and that made things super interesting. Cooper could have snuck out under the stage when Russ came out, or maybe he could have silently taken out the woman hunting him. He could have disguised himself as a stage hand and sabotaged Lady Raven’s set while he snuck out the back door with Riley.
In no way is this a complaint that none of these possibilities happened. Granted, this is also too high of praise for a Shyamalan movie to think itself close to Hitman, but that’s besides the point.
I think the decisions Cooper made helped keep the story grounded rather than wacky as if it was a Hitman game. I’m not about to throw the word “realistic” out there, but I believe these sequences of events more. At the very least I am entertained, but nevertheless, we ball.
Trap by M. Night Shyamalan
I need you all to understand how serious I am with how much I enjoyed this movie. There is not a shred of irony here. Trap awakened something in me- appreciation. When I left the theater, not only was I genuinely satisfied with how entertaining this was, but how there is no one doing what M. Night Shyamalan is doing.
Love him or hate him, there has only ever been one M. Night Shyamalan. I am so grateful to be living in this era that he is still creating and I am so grateful to have seen dorky dad Josh Hartnett up on the big screen.
Trap was so much fun. Josh Hartnett is so goofy, but creepy and I love him. M. Night Shyamalan has made another masterpiece and I feel a strong 8/10 here. For more reviews be sure to check back here at Respect My Region!
