Trap: The Missed Potential of M. Night Shyamalan’s Latest Thriller

A predator could be lurking anywhere.

Opening its doors in 2024, Trap is M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film. A father takes his teen daughter to a pop concert of her favorite singer. While surveying the area, Cooper finds peculiar events happening. He realizes they’ve entered a planned diabolical event to catch a criminal.

‘Oh, come on,’ I kept telling myself throughout most of Trap. Trap has fascinating components and a suspenseful plotline, but its enactment was underdone. I cringed at the ridiculous dialogue. The concept has complex layers of a discovered revelation that’s not explored enough, leading to missed opportunities.

Josh Hartnett emulates a sinister being, right down to his smile and stare. He looked like he was having a fun time in the role. Hartnett saves the film with his performance. We spend a fair amount of time with Cooper, and yet, we don’t impede on his mind. That’s terrifying.

A huge shoutout goes to Saleka Shyamalan, the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan. An actual singer in real life, her talents hone to singing more than acting. Like most plot revelations, her character is suddenly woven into the plot.

Trap includes unexpected casting choices. Cooper takes his daughter, Riley (Ariel Donahue) to the concert. Credits include Hayley Mills, Alison Pill, Mark Bacocol, Marnie McPhail, and Lochlan Miller. The best side character award goes to Jonathan Langdon. His reaction at the end of the film is hilarious.

What is the dialogue? The actors' delivery is so unnatural and stiff that it looks like robots were hired. It also resembled the way video game characters spoke during cut scenes. I’m a believer that Shyamalan paired up with AI to write this film. Characters shout exposition in every sentence, leaving no surprises.

The concert setting is the driving force of Trap. If there was an award category for Best Setting, Trap is the winner. Concert arenas make appropriate settings for thrillers for their ambiguous nature.

As one other reviewer commented (And I agree!) the crowd scenes in Trap are directed well. It’s more realistic to use a crowd than computer-generating people in the stands.

The cinematography outdoes itself as Cooper scans the area witnessing several events. Except, Shyamalan has become obsessed with claustrophobic close-ups. Every shot of this film is a close-up of a character’s face.

Trap has a similar issue that I had with Red Eye (2005). We should have remained in the concert arena the entire time. The family subplot in the third act is so disjointed. The film would have benefited greatly from staying within the confines of the concert arena, letting the tension build up to a more enticing finish.

It’s baffling to me that this is the same director who made the iconic Sixth Sense (1999). Shyamalan succeeds as a filmmaker, but what happened to his subtle nature and big twists? A twist revelation would have added more depth.

On a positive note, Shyamalan’s story ideas are inspiring. The wheels are always turning in his head, creating one idea after another. He pitched the idea for Trap as a Silence of the Lambs-esque crossover with a Taylor Swift concert.

It’s his story execution that is inconsistent. Trap is an enigma wrapped in a frustrating package. The narrative often feels disjointed, leaving viewers more confused than intrigued. Shyamalan had the concept in mind, but visually it deserves more edits.

Everyone is going to have different opinions on Shyamalan’s latest film. I liked it and I didn’t like it. Trap doesn’t quite deliver a payoff, but it’s worth seeing in theaters.