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Join UsStar Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka, Hayley Mills and Alison Pill
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
What’s Good: The film creates a great atmosphere of tension that combined with the silly dialogue and plot points makes for a fun watch
What’s Bad: The first act meanders a bit, but the short running time makes up for it
Loo Break: The film doesn’t overstay its welcome, so only the first ten minutes of the film feel like a safe space to go to the loon before you start missing vital information.
Watch or Not?: Yes, because, while it might not be theater worthy at times, it is actually a very fun thriller to watch with other people and guess what will happen.
Language: English (with subtitles).
Available On: Theaters
Runtime: 105 Minutes.
User Rating:
M. Night Shyamalan has had one impressive career; starting with being the new Hollywood wonder boy with the release of the Sixth Sense and then making everything fall apart with The Last Airbender. M. Night Shyamalan’s has been a true rollercoaster, but it is great to actually see him now comfortable with what he does best, and in the case of Trap, a thriller that knows how to manage expectations and then go against them while constructing a fun character to follow through the entire time.
Trap Movie Review: Script Analysis
M. Night Shyamalan made himself famous with films like Signs, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and The Village, films that were created around a cool premise to then destroy that premise with one of his famous plot twists. However, at one point the trick started to lose impact and M. Night Shyamalan found himself being predictable, which sometimes can end up being boring as well, and so after a few years of experiencing the world of blockbusters, M. Night Shyamalan has come back with one of his thrillers but one that has no twist at all, and is still quite good.
Trap is not M. Night Shyamalan’s best film, but it is proof that the director can write a solid story and have fun with it, and this is the first thing that will jump at you while watching Trap. It is fun and silly, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and that is what makes each ridiculous plot point just work, alongside a couple of very funny lines that will make you laugh with pleasure. It doesn’t really matter if being funny was intended or not, it just is, and the contrast between the humor and the darker premise make for a good combination.
Not having a big twist and actually telling you in the first few minutes of the film what is actually happening is a bold decision but one that ends up working as a huge Chekhov’s gun, meaning that an element of danger has been introduced to the plot, and now you just have to wait and see how it is going to be used. The film manages to create a fun feeling of claustrophobia around our main character, and this makes for a good contrast with the actual size of the venue where the story takes place.
However, while there is a lot of fun in the way the story is written, M. Night Shyamalan also tries, or at least it seems to, go to a deeper place inside the main character’s psychology, but this element feels half-baked, and while it explains some things about him, the amount of time used for it never seems to amount to much, and it all seems quite shallow. This alongside a meandering first half in terms of plot, make the film a bit scattered in places, but thankfully the second half brings all the good elements back into the fold.
Trap Movie Review: Star Performance
Just like M. Night Shyamalan, Josh Hartnett has had a very crazy career, starting as a leading man in rom-coms and even some blockbusters, Hartnett would later evolve into an indie actor to then disappear for a while, and come back as a character actor, able to do basically everything if given the chance, and M. Night Shyamalan has done just that, allowing Hartnett to express himself as a terrifying, calculating, but also a tender serial killer. The character is a strange combination, but Hartnett makes it work thanks to his confidence and excellent humorist delivery.
The rest of the cast does well, especially Donoghue as Riley, Harnett’s character’s daughter in the film, she and Hartnett have a lot of chemistry, and they truly feel like father and daughter. Meanwhile, M. Night Shyamalan’s own daughter Saleka also has a big part in the film, and while her acting is not the best, she does her best as this pop-star that is more than meets the eye. It is also great to see Alison Pill in a small but scene stealer role.
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Trap Movie Review: Direction, Music
M. Night Shyamalan always wanted to be a sort of Alfred Hitchcock, even putting himself as a character in his own movies, but while he has never managed to be as good as Hitchcock, Trap might be his best attempt to date. The way the camera moves following the character’s sight, the way the scene always feels like ready to go somewhere else than where we are supposed to be looking at, it is all amazingly done. Yes, Shyamalan is having trouble maintaining focus or momentum in that first half of the film, but the strength of his premise makes up for it, and by the time the second half arrives you will be in it, or you won’t for the rest of the ride. Shyamalan’s rule of not going beyond the two-hour mark really helps this movie work.
Shyamalan also manages to extract some great performances from his actors here, as Hartnett and Pill are on fire, and you can definitely feel that there is a family message going on and that he really loves his daughter, making her the pop star within the film. In the end, M. Night Shyamalan’s own sensibilities as a family man are present throughout the entire movie, and you can feel that he is just that good of a guy, it might never be as elegant and efficient as Hitchcock, but he doesn’t have to.
Trap Movie Review: The Last Word
Trap is a fun, tense but also ridiculous film at the same time, and M. Night Shyamalan knows it as his dialogues just give us some true silly gems throughout the film, and yet, the premise is so strong that you will be interested in seeing how the tale will end. The performances are great, the cinematography is on point and the tone, while all over the place, fits the journey of the character itself, and all of that combined make for a good watch, so even if it isn’t totally theater worthy, a watch down the line at home seems like the perfect choice.
Trap Trailer
Trap released on 2nd August, 2024.
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For more recommendations, read our Fly Me To The Moon Movie Review here.
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