There’s a strong contingency of the internet that preaches the gospel of M. Night Shyamalan. The director has one of the strangest career arcs of all time. Even today, you’ll hear that he’s a Wunderkind, washed up, or a secret genius. Trap, his latest film, seeks to contribute to his upward trajectory in recent years. Sadly, despite wanting to love Trap, its inconsistencies and atrocious storytelling sink the ship in the final half-hour.

Trap – The Plot

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When Cooper (Josh Hartnett) takes his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert, he assumes they’ll have a good time. However, once he arrives, it’s revealed that the show for Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) was added to help catch a serial killer known as The Butcher. Little do the FBI or Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills) realize, is that Cooper is The Butcher. In a fight for survival, Cooper leads the police and investigators on a chase as he looks for a way out.

Josh Hartnett is Too Good for Trap

M. Night Shyamalan's Trap starring Josh Hartnett

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I’d be lying if I said Trap was not entertaining. Built around hammy Josh Hartnett, there are moments in Trap that shine incredibly bright. For the first two-thirds of the movie, it’s an above-average thriller with some high rewatch potential. Hartnett’s making a meal out of the movie, and while it occasionally dips into overacting, the energy is unreal. He charms his way into every nook and cranny of the show and believably does so.

During these sequences, Trap shines bright. It’s a playful energy and showcases some excellent qualities of the thriller subgenre. Watching a master manipulator and problem solver work can be one of the most exciting personas to watch on screen. With elements of an improv heist and some great side characters (Jonathan Langdon, Scott Mescudi – a.k.a. Kid Cudi), this section of the movie sings.

The Depressing Shyamalan Slide

However, after Cooper and Riley end up backstage, the wheels on the bus fall off. The final forty minutes lose the incredible momentum of the first part of Trap and instead defy all logic. The issue, unfortunately, begins with Saleka Shyamalan. While the first half of the movie puts her in popstar mode, she excels. There are times when the show rings hollow, or a little too indebted to the Eras Tour. At the same time, she’s not asked to carry the emotional burden of the story.

In the second act, she’s not only intimately involved with the drama, but has to deliver a ton of exposition. Frankly, the character could be removed from the entire second half of Trap, and the fallout left for Cooper would be more than enough to sustain the film. It’s a miscalculation that dooms most of Trap.

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To this point, the exposition dumps and middling ADR around Mills couple be shrugged off. However, as we reach the final act, these moments become even more frequent. The poor filmmaking on display overexplains most scenes, shows zero faith in the audience, and seemingly throws red herrings in every direction possible. Whatever goodwill Shyamalan earned earlier in Trap flutters away.

While Shyamalan has always worn his heart on his sleeve, Trap‘s threadbare thematic aspects become the final nail in the coffin. One could read Old as a love story about finding your way back to someone you loved, as time passes much faster than you realize. Knock at the Cabin seeks hope in the apocalypse through the strength of family. The Visit digs at deep familial insecurity and shows how filmmaking gave a young Shyamalan purpose.

Trap loses that gloss. It’s a father-daughter story, within a cultural father-daughter moment for M. Night and Saleka. However, the metaphors collapse when a single thread receives a tug. The dialogue becomes frustratingly trite. The characters make absurd decisions, and Hartnett becomes a Bugs Bunny-level escape artist. References to Psycho and Silence of the Lambs fall flat.

While Hartnett is always fun, the rest of the movie falters. It’s disappointing to watch an auteur struggle to land the plane, but Trap might be Shyamalan’s least cohesive movie since After Earth. It’s a stunning miss, especially after such a strong start. With a Godfather III-level disastrous performance from his daughter, it’s really hard to feel positive about where Shyamalan goes from here.

4/10

Watch Trap in theaters August 2, 2024. Warner Bros. distributes.

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Trap Review: An Enjoyable Thriller Collapses In The Final Act