Rating: Half-Full

Genre: Thriller

Studios: Warner Bros/Blinding Edge Pictures

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Alison Pill

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Writer: M. Night Shyamalan

Producers: Marc Bienstock, M. Night Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan

Music by: Herdis Stefansdottir

Rated: PG-13 for some violent content and brief strong language

Release Date: 07/24/24

Runtime: 1h 45m

Tagline: 30000 fans. 300 cops. 1 serial killer. No escape.

Favorite Character: Lady Raven

Quote: “This whole concert? It’s a trap. They’re watching all the exits, checking everyone that leaves. There’s no way to get out of here. It’s kinda dope right?”- Vendor

Fun Fact: Many of Lady Raven songs have titles that match the theme to the film (Save Me, Release, Hiding, etc).

The Review: What if ‘Silence of the Lambs’ happened at a Taylor Swift concert? That is the question M. Night Shyamalan asked when pitching for his next film. Sounds like a great concept. But there is one problem. Shyamalan being in charge of the film.

Yes, he is the guy who created the Oscar nominated ‘Sixth Sense’ but don’t forget, he is also the same guy who made the Razzie winning The Last Airbender (has he even seen the show?) So every time Shyamalan release a new film, it is either going to be a hit or a miss, so I did not have high hopes that this would be the next Sixth Sense or Split.

And turns out I was correct.

In Trap, a fun goofy father (strong performance by Josh Hartnett) rewards his daughter (Alice Donoghue) for getting a good report card by taking her to the concert. That star of the show was none other than Lady Raven (played by Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka) who was Taylor Swift in Shyamalan’s world. It actually comes to no surprise that Saleka actually wrote the songs for the film which may have hit the charts in that world but not in real life.

If you did manage to avoid the trailers, a fun goofy father had a double life as a notorious serial killer known as ‘The Butcher’ and when you are a killer at a concert, you will feel alarmed with the police guarding the exits and learning from the merchandise seller (Jonathan Langdon) that the whole concert was set up as a trap. You realize you may be busted, and that is exactly what Cooper feels like.

According to the first trailer, it was deemed as a new M. Night Shyamalan experience. That wasn’t a lie. It was a little over mediocre experience. The whole concert scenes contains a Hitchcock atmosphere and keeping us on our toes. Sounds like a unique experience. It makes you feels like you ARE at the concert. But the fun kinda slows down when the concert ends, which is only before we are at a halfway point of the movie.

As for his signature twist…wait, I’m sorry, what twist? Oh it’s there all right, it was just hidden out of the my sight and not enough to say whoa. It’s like when Shyamalan is writing a story, he seems like focus more on the buildup than the major twist. If you managed to avoid the trailers and try not to think about what the twist could be, you might be lucky enough to get a little shook out of you.

But other than the unnoticeable twist, Trap wasn’t all a bust. Some people may complain about how the story was written but to me, the plot was pretty simple. but well handcrafted that has enough suspenseful moments to be a Hitchcock approved film. Plus, it does come with a chuckle worthy post credit scene.