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Josh Hartnett gives an incredible performance but Shyamalan mostly misses the mark in this strange PG-13 horror film with no bite.
PLOT: A father and his teen daughter attend a pop concert only to realize they’ve entered the center of a dark and sinister event.
REVIEW: Is there a filmmaker more polarizing than M. Night Shyamalan? It seems as though everyone has an opinion, even if they haven’t seen the film in question. And if there’s one thing Shyamalan is good at: it’s coming up with a good hook. A child that sees dead people, a secret superhero, or a beach that rapidly ages you are just a few of many of his interesting concepts. Yet in recent years, the execution has left a lot to be desired. So stepping firmly into the horror genre, does Trap manage to stick the landing? Well…
Trap follows a serial killer, Cooper (Josh Hartnett), and his daughter Riley as they’re attending a Lady Raven concert (think Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo). But when he’s there he finds out that the FBI has set up a sting operation at the concert in order to catch a serial killer known as The Butcher. Only one problem: Cooper is the Butcher. And as cool as that setup is, it’s hard not to think about those recent failures in execution. And I think those insecurities play out on screen, with Trap never really knowing what kind of film it wants to be. Does it want to focus on this scary killer or does it want to be about a pop star? The PG-13 rating probably answers that for you.
This is an absolute showcase for Josh Hartnett’s acting skills. The trailers made it obvious that he would impress but it’s remarkable the amount of range he’s able to display. His interactions with his daughter (played by Ariel Donoghue) set up a father who would do anything for his daughter. The first twenty minutes could almost convince you that there’s no way this guy could do anything bad. Yet when Harnett turns it on, it’s downright terrifying. He goes from jovial to menacing in an instant. How he’s able to manipulate people from one moment to the next really makes The Butcher all the more scary. Just wish we could have seen him more in action.
I knew going into this that one of two things would happen: either M Night really did his homework and thought of logical ways for someone to hide at a concert or we’re going to get a bunch of convoluted ways for someone to just barely escape police custody time and time again. I’m sure you can imagine which one Mr. Shyamalan took. And I’m not a total hater: there are some good things to like about this movie. Some genuinely funny moments help to ease the tension. But ultimately, we’re sitting and waiting for a terrible person to get caught. It makes the stakes absurdly messy.
Now it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. It’s hard to watch this movie and not feel like it’s a total vanity project. Casting his daughter Saleka as Lady Raven was always going to draw the nepo baby criticism. In many ways, Trap feels like it was made just so Saleka could live out her pop star dreams. With a lot more screen time than you’d expect, and all of the Lady Raven music written and performed by her, there’s a lot riding on her shoulders. And while the singing is fine on a technical level, she really doesn’t have that popstar aura to her. The lyrics are generic and don’t really connect in a way that I’d see teenage girls freaking out over. She seems nervous on stage and like she’s trying to hit her cues. And the more she has to do acting-wise, the less convincing she is. However, I did get a kick out of M Night appearing as her Uncle. That man always manages to find a cameo.
Kid Cudi has a very fun part as The Thinker, an eccentric musician with platinum blonde hair. He was clearly having a blast and I wanted more of him as he gave the film that larger-than-life persona it desperately needed. Alison Pill was probably my second favorite performance in the film next to Hartnett and is further proof that this woman needs to be hired more. I wasn’t a massive fan of the inclusion of an FBI profiler since it just felt like a way to exposition dump. And her connections with Lady Raven were eye-roll-inducing.
A good chunk of the film takes place at the Lady Raven concert and it’s hard not to be distracted by the aesthetic. Like when your favorite sitcom attends a concert, there’s something off about how it all looks. The audience feels very staged and the performance on stage comes across as vapid. If anything, this gives me more of an appreciation for those great concert films that properly nail the emotion of the moment.
Despite my negativity in this review, I didn’t outright hate Trap. The performances from both Hartnett and Pill are worth the price of admission. I could watch those two act in an empty room and be entertained. I’m just sick of Shyamalan creating these great concepts and being so incapable of sticking the landing. For every great moment in Trap, there’s an illogical one that feels like it was written by a teenager. Unless something changes, I think I may be done with Shyamalan in the theater.
TRAP IS PLAYING IN THEATERS ON AUGUST 2ND, 2024.
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