By John Corrado

The latest “event movie” from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, Trap is basically pitched as a thriller set at a pop concert with a serial killer trying to escape the auditorium, and it delivers on this conceit.

Josh Hartnett stars in the film as Cooper Abbott, a working class dad taking his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see her favourite pop star Lady Raven perform. In an inspired bit of nepo casting, Lady Raven – who is basically a mix of Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish – is played by the director’s own daughter, singer Saleka Night Shyamalan, performing her own original songs.

The “twist” is that the massive concert has actually been turned into an elaborate trap set up by the feds to catch a cunning serial killer who calls himself the Butcher, whom police have been tipped off will be at the show. What we know that they don’t, is that Cooper is also the Butcher.

The result is a thriller where the killer is also our protagonist, adding a sense of cognitive dissonance as we end up inadvertently rooting for Hartnett’s Cooper as he desperately tries to find a way out of the building. Shyamalan’s screenplay succeeds in continuously turning the tables, and going left when you expect him to go right. It’s a technique that he has perfected by now, carefully turning the screw to build tension and deliver a series of twists, even if the narrative itself here is pretty straight-forward.

By now, Shyamalan has come into his own as seasoned master of the populist popcorn thriller. This is him riffing on Hitchcock, tapping into the old adage that you can add tension to even the most mundane situation by introducing the idea that there is a ticking time bomb (so to speak) waiting to go off. There is an element of campiness to Trap in its more gonzo elements, including Shyamalan’s penchant for stylized dialogue, and the appearance of Kid Cudi as an androgynous, long-haired pop star named the Thinker. But it’s all in keeping with the idea that audiences are meant to be having fun while being perched on the edge of their seats.

At the centre of it all is Hartnett, who is enjoying a mini renaissance following his supporting role in Oppenheimer last year. His performance here is delightfully creepy and unhinged, tapping into Cooper’s goofy, nervous dad energy to offer an unsettling portrayal of a psychopathic serial killer trying to blend in. On a deeper level, Trap is about him trying desperately to maintain the carefully constructed balance between his suburban dad identity and murderous double life, and Hartnett is captivating to watch as the walls close in on him.

On a technical level, Trap is incredibly well shot by Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name), working with Shyamalan to shoot on 35mm film. The whole thing has a crisp, polished look to it, with interesting angles and smooth tracking shots. It’s also worth noting that Trap was (somewhat obviously) filmed in Hamilton and Toronto, standing in for downtown Philadelphia; one of the first shots is a Beer Store truck driving under the Gardiner Expressway, and the exterior of the stadium is the Rogers Centre.

This is a popcorn movie through and through, made to be experienced with a crowd who are all locked in for the ride. Sure, you could nitpick certain elements or plot points as being unrealistic. But Trap mainly works as a piece of grand, pulpy entertainment. The film is quite economical too, packing a lot into just 105 minutes, with little wasted time. It’s a lot of fun to watch and gets increasingly tense as it goes along, with Shyamalan doing a superb job of steadily ratcheting up the cat-and-mouse suspense.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

Bonus Features (4K Ultra HD):

The 4K edition does justice to the film’s 35mm image, and maintains this filmic look throughout, with its slight grain and deep blacks. The disc comes with a handful of bonus features, including two featurettes and a few deleted scenes. A code for a digital copy is also included in the package, which ships with a slipcover.

• Setting the Trap: A New M. Night Shyamalan Experience (4 minutes, 8 seconds): Shyamalan talks about the idea of combining a concert film with a thriller, and Harriett discusses his process of getting into the mind of his character.

• Saleka as Lady Raven (5 minutes, 8 seconds): Shyamalan discusses developing the film alongside his daughter (inspired by their shared love of Purple Rain), and shooting it like an actual concert movie, with Saleka writing and performing a series of original songs in the film.

• Deleted Scenes (Play All – 6 minutes, 16 seconds)

• Cooper Gets Stopped by SWAT (1 minute, 2 seconds)

• Riley Shows Lady Raven Her Room (1 minute, 50 seconds)

• Cooper Takes a Hostage and Slips Away (3 minutes, 42 seconds)

• Extended Concert Scene: Where Did She Go (3 minutes, 29 seconds)

Trap is a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release. It’s 105 minutes and rated PG-13.

Street Date: November 5th, 2024