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That is the assurance that a certain character gets late in this film. That you're not necessarily defined by your actions, regardless of how horrific they might be; at least in the eyes of mom, that is. That is part of the premise that this M. Night Shyamalan film toys with. Trap follows Cooper Abbott (Josh Hartnett), a firefighter and family man, that takes his teenage daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert, only to realize that the whole concert might be a trap to catch a dangerous serial killer.
My history with Shyamalan is very odd. I remember watching The Sixth Sense in theaters and not being that crazy about it, figuring the big twist halfway through. My enjoyment of each of his subsequent films continued to grow more until it peaked with The Village, which still stands as my favorite from him and probably my favorite film from 2004. It's interesting how, consciously or not, he has created a filmography that seems to be reliant on twists.
Trap is a different beast, though; at least in that respect. Shyamalan reveals pretty early on who's the serial killer. I found this quite refreshing as we then devote our energies on seeing how he tries to figure out a way out of this trap. I also enjoyed the levity with which he treated this character which was an interesting mixture of dread and dark humor. I thought the balance was pretty good and effective. I still was kinda expecting some "a-ha!" moment in the end, but was surprised that the focus was more on the characters.
Special kudos to Hartnett, who's having a hell of a comeback. His performance here is great and he manages to have us rooting for him. Donoghue is pretty good as his daughter, and I thought Saleka Shyamalan (the director's daughter) was very good as singer Lady Raven, who somehow gets caught in the trap as well as the killer tries to find ways to escape. If anything, I wish the characters of Cooper's wife (Alison Pill) and the profiler (Hayley Mills) would've been executed better. The way it is, Hartnett gets more moments to shine, but I think there could've been a nice counter-balance there.
Beyond that, Shyamalan's direction is usually flawless. This one's no different as he manages to put us in the middle of the thrill and excitement of this concert, and mix it up with the thrill and excitement of a manhunt, or the desire to escape, depending from your perspective. His visual prowess is always tops, even in the films from him I don't like that much. I know they're not all good, but not all of them are "monsters". Trap is what it is, and I enjoyed most of it. End of story.
Grade:
TRAP
(2024, Shyamalan)
(2024, Shyamalan)
"Not all of you is a monster. Not all. You're my son and this is who you are. End of story."
That is the assurance that a certain character gets late in this film. That you're not necessarily defined by your actions, regardless of how horrific they might be; at least in the eyes of mom, that is. That is part of the premise that this M. Night Shyamalan film toys with. Trap follows Cooper Abbott (Josh Hartnett), a firefighter and family man, that takes his teenage daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert, only to realize that the whole concert might be a trap to catch a dangerous serial killer.
My history with Shyamalan is very odd. I remember watching The Sixth Sense in theaters and not being that crazy about it, figuring the big twist halfway through. My enjoyment of each of his subsequent films continued to grow more until it peaked with The Village, which still stands as my favorite from him and probably my favorite film from 2004. It's interesting how, consciously or not, he has created a filmography that seems to be reliant on twists.
Trap is a different beast, though; at least in that respect. Shyamalan reveals pretty early on who's the serial killer. I found this quite refreshing as we then devote our energies on seeing how he tries to figure out a way out of this trap. I also enjoyed the levity with which he treated this character which was an interesting mixture of dread and dark humor. I thought the balance was pretty good and effective. I still was kinda expecting some "a-ha!" moment in the end, but was surprised that the focus was more on the characters.
Special kudos to Hartnett, who's having a hell of a comeback. His performance here is great and he manages to have us rooting for him. Donoghue is pretty good as his daughter, and I thought Saleka Shyamalan (the director's daughter) was very good as singer Lady Raven, who somehow gets caught in the trap as well as the killer tries to find ways to escape. If anything, I wish the characters of Cooper's wife (Alison Pill) and the profiler (Hayley Mills) would've been executed better. The way it is, Hartnett gets more moments to shine, but I think there could've been a nice counter-balance there.
Beyond that, Shyamalan's direction is usually flawless. This one's no different as he manages to put us in the middle of the thrill and excitement of this concert, and mix it up with the thrill and excitement of a manhunt, or the desire to escape, depending from your perspective. His visual prowess is always tops, even in the films from him I don't like that much. I know they're not all good, but not all of them are "monsters". Trap is what it is, and I enjoyed most of it. End of story.
Grade: