‘Trap’ Movie Review: A Belabored One-Note Example Of The Importance Of A Well-Written Script
Photo from Entertainment Weekly
From Joe Peltzer
I have a love/hate relationship with M. Night Shyamalan, a filmmaker revered for his earlier works that tested the boundaries of thrillers packed with a twist (or two), who has since settled into a frustrating comfortability with mediocrity. Trap is a film that conceptually sounds thrilling, focused on the question of “what would happen if a serial killer was at a Taylor Swift concert and the police had him cornered?” What we get, however, is a film that looks and sounds great, but it “traps” itself in ambitious, yet unrealized ideas that flatline through silly delivery and poorly written dialogue.
With the premise already mentioned, it must be said that it is not only a modern and relevant idea, but something that early 2000’s Shyamalan likely would have twisted into wildly unforeseen turns and a memorable conclusion. Josh Hartnett in the lead continues his slight acting renaissance and here plays the role of a father (or daddy, as many have said cheekily). Sure, he’s a fine actor and it’s nice to see him getting the recognition, but praising his performance in a film with such uninspired writing is far from appropriate; whereas the intent is for his serial killer character to be mysterious and suspense-inducing, his lines (along with those from others) hit with an unintended comedic tone. This has always been the battle in Shyamalan movies, the constant struggle between his vision as a director and his fallacies as a writer.
Said fallacies are on full display as you quickly realize that the two minute trailers released in the run-up to the film tell you everything that you need to know, save for the third act. While in the arena, Hartnett’s Cooper feels the walls closing in and theorizes about escaping via the roof, through the back of the stage, and even through a trap door in the floor that unrealistically opens right next to their floor seats, without any guardrails. Once the setting shifts to outside of the concert, it’s clear that Shyamalan has run out of ideas, leaning into the cat and mouse game between the police and Cooper, who continues to evade them somehow. Allison Pill pops in as Cooper’s wife, but she is totally wasted in her screen time; her involvement in the resolution is ultimately underwhelming and garnered grown from the audience I saw it with.
While it’s fun to see The Parent Trap’s Hayley Mills play an FBI profiler hot on Cooper’s heels, she’s largely relegated to the background with emotionless exposition to give us more of a foundation of Cooper, often heard over police radios. Close your eyes and you’ll swear you’re hearing Helen Mirren narrating a nature documentary. The culprit here, and the one responsible for such poorly fleshed out characters (Ariel Donoghue’s Riley is in the same boat) is Shyamalan; they’re simply not interesting. Had we spent more time exploring what led Cooper to the life of crime, or even have seen said crimes play out (even in flashbacks), perhaps the stakes would have felt greater. What we end up with is a watered-down wannabe thriller that misses every interesting mark.
The only saving grace of Trap is Saleka Shyamalan. Musically she is a star, the songs written by her and her father far more intriguing than the words of the script. Though she also suffers the wrath of kindergarten-level dialogue, she is an exciting presence in every scene, a warm presence among otherwise stoic characters. Saleka alone keeps Trap interesting.
Gone is the excitement and ingenuity of Shyamalan films of the past (The Sixth Sense, Signs, and Split would like a word). What we’re left with is a literally and conceptually small-scale film (count the number of times you see them walk past Shake Shack) built upon a simple idea that the filmmaker loses interest in as we roll along. It’s exhausting to engage in this cycle of excitement and disappointment over his films anymore. Said to be the fastest script Shyamalan has ever written, perhaps more time and care with delivering a satisfying third act would serve him (and his legacy) well.
Rating: 1.5/5
Trap is now playing in theaters.
