Trap – Movie Review (3/5)

TRAP (2024) is a serial killer thriller by M. Night Shyamalan. It has a lot of good elements and is certainly worth watching. Even if the story should’ve been stronger. Josh Hartnett is absolutely fantastic though. Read our full Trap movie review here!

TRAP (2024) is out in theaters, and this latest M. Night Shyamalan film is about a serial killer, which is right up our alley. It’s a thriller and from the plot and trailer alone, we know quite a lot about the story. But obviously not everything, and we don’t do spoilers.

However, I can say that the intensity and development of the story is impressive. Especially thanks to Josh Hartnett as the serial killer “The Butcher”. This is not a spoiler, but the whole plot. What it lacks is an edge in plot and execution.

Continue reading our Trap film review below. Find it In Theaters from August 2, 2024.

Josh Hartnett is excellent – and terrifying

For many years I did not understand the fascination with Josh Hartnett. Back when he was a heartthrob in various teenage movies, I mean. However, that has thankfully changed with his roles in films such as 30 Days of Night and especially the fantastic Penny Dreadful series.

Most recently also a Black Mirror episode that I highly recommended. That one performance showed the type of darkness that he once again digs into with Trap. I mean, he plays a serial killer known as “The Butcher”.

However, we also see him with his daughter at a concert, where he seems like the best father in the world. At least his daughter thinks so, and you can understand why.

Actually, not just his daughter falls for his charms. Everyone does if and when he decides, he needs them to like and trust him. Not unlike the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.

A large part of this thriller takes place during a concert, so there’s a lot of music. Still, it works because it’s typically in the background. What we viewers focus on is Copper (Josh Hartnett) trying to find a solution to the dire situation he finds himself in.

Not the typical Shyamalan twists

If you’re going into Trap expecting another wild M. Night Shyamalan twist, I’d actually like to warn against it. Specifically going in with those expectations. From the release of the first longer trailer, I started reading about guesses of the “Shyamalan twist”.

Unfortunately, it may ruin the experience of watching the movie, if you’re sitting there waiting for the Shyamalan twist. Or constantly guessing what it might be rather than enjoying the movie.

And Trap is best experienced through the struggle of Josh Hartnett’s character.

He’s a serial killer who can feel that he’s close to getting caught, and tries to escape in almost pure defiance. There are of course some twists and surprising developments. Just not of the classic Shyamalan variety.

And that’s fine with me. It’s the sharpness and strength of the story, I find lacking.

Why is it, for example, a British FBI profiling expert in charge? Rather than, for example, an American. Especially when we know that the FBI’s entire profiler program was built on the work of an American woman?!

Her name is Ann Burgess, and a Hulu documentary series about her recently came out. It actually seems paradoxical and almost insulting to this American legend.

The fact that you want an iconic actor like Hayley Mills in the movie is perfectly fine. I can respect that. But she doesn’t have to be British. In fact, it doesn’t make much sense that she is.

Betty Buckley would’ve nailed this role and she’s already a Shyamalan alum.

Watch Trap in theaters now!

M. Night Shyamalan is the writer and director of Trap. His daughter also appears in the film as the singer giving the concert as “Lady Raven”. Her name is Saleka Shyamalan and she also wrote the music – for this and several previous productions. And both the music and her voice are impressive!

This movie works through its tension and intensity (especially Josh Hartnett’s performance), but the plot as a whole lets it down. Or rather, it has too many loose ends.

In fact, I’d like to see a Trap 2, where we could delve into this. More specifically, a little more background story rather than “just” this story, which unfolds almost in real-time.

I simply lack the stories of the serial killer and his victims, which was disappointing to me. However, M. Night Shyamalan has made several films about the same characters in the past.

It happened with Glass, where the main characters from both Split and Unbreakable turned out to be part of the same universe and were confronted. I would love to see a movie that continued with Josh Hartnett’s character. Or a series!

Trap is out in US theaters on August 2, 2024.

Details

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Allison Pill