Trap
Josh Hartnett fails to convince in M. Night Shyamalan’s laboured psycho-thriller.
Concerted effort: Josh Hartnett and Ariel Donoghue
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
In marketing, the concept is often more potent than the content. M. Night Shyamalan is an ideas man, whose concepts make great trailers. Consequently, his films often make their money back before ending up in the bargain video bin. Having made his name with the commercial two-punch of The Sixth Sense and Signs, the director’s reputation would seem to be unravelling, dramatically tarnished by his last two releases, Old and Knock at the Cabin. Besides being a valentine to his daughter Saleka Night Shyamalan, who plays a Lady Gaga-type pop icon and wrote all the songs herself, this so-called psychological thriller is baffling. It makes no sense whatsoever.
Josh Hartnett plays Cooper, the doting father of a teenage girl, Riley (Ariel Donoghue), who gets her the best seats at the concert of her idol, Lady Raven (Saleka). The next chunk of the movie sees him eyeing the security detail uneasily, while acting increasingly more suspicious, prompting even Riley to say, “you’re acting weird.” It quickly transpires that the none-too-subtle police presence is there to trap a serial killer dubbed ‘The Butcher’, prompting queasy memories of Ariana Grande's concert at the Manchester Arena seven years ago. The FBI, led by Hayley Mills of all people (!), has reason to believe that The Butcher is attending the event, while Cooper attempts to get down with the kids by learning the latest tween jargon. At one point, embarrassingly, he even notes, “this concert is ‘crispy’!”
Shyamalan is known for his twists, so obviously Cooper couldn’t possibly be the serial killer – that would be stupid. However, Cooper’s motives are unclear, although he’s behaving as guilty as sin both to us, the audience, and to his daughter – everybody, that is, except the authorities who peg him as the “father of the year.” What happens next is not so much surprising as bewildering, as Cooper seemingly reverses his gameplan. Is he there to cause mayhem or to give his daughter a good time?
The film’s first half feels interminable as Shyamalan tightens the nuts of what he presumably intends to be a nail-biting prelude of what is to come. Unfortunately, Trap works neither as a thriller (there is no suspense), nor as an exploration of the criminal psyche. It doesn’t help that Hartnett overdoes the anxious glances, failing to mine either the unhinged psychosis of a Travis Bickle or the confident charisma of a Hannibal Lecter. At best, he looks like a rattled middle school teacher. It’s interesting to watch where Shyamalan thinks he’s going, but the real trap is laid out for an audience thinking that they might actually get their money’s worth.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill, Jonathan Langdon, Mark Bacolcol, Marnie McPhail-Diamond, Vanessa Smythe, M. Night Shyamalan.
Dir M. Night Shyamalan, Pro Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan, Screenplay M. Night Shyamalan, Ph Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Pro Des Debbie DeVilla, Ed Noëmi Preiswerk, Music Herdís Stefánsdóttir, Costumes Caroline Duncan, Sound Dashen Naidoo.
Blinding Edge Pictures-Warner Bros.
105 mins. USA/UK/Yemen. 2024. US Rel: 2 August 2024. UK Rel: 9 August 2024. Cert. 15.
