‘Trap’ review: A dull daddy-daughter day

M. Night Shymalan goes 0 for 2 in trying to help one of his kids have a career in the undercooked thriller Trap.

M. Night Shyamalan’s 16th feature film stars Josh Hartnett as father and firefighter Cooper, who is hiding his secret life as a serial killer from his family. When he takes his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert featuring Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan, M. Night’s eldest daughter) and a legion of teenage fan girls at her command, Cooper notices that the venue is teaming with law enforcement, including FBI profiler Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills, from The Parent Trap. Get it?). While avoiding suspicion, he races to figure out how to escape with Riley and return home to his family who are blissfully unaware of the bodies he’s butchered.

Hearts for Hartnett.

The first half of Trap is the best with Hartnett giving the performance of a lifetime as the ideal girl dad/sociopath—perhaps the only one more vicious than a mean girl. Even those who didn’t find Hartnett alluring in the days of The Faculty won’t hold the line from the moment he lifts his teen girl on his shoulders during the concert. Even arena vendor Jamie (Jonathan Langdon) can’t help but wonder at Cooper’s strength. Bless Shyamalan for playing the long game and giving Cooper OCD so he can take off his shirt off in preparation for his next messy kill. When people describe serial killers as handsome and charming, then show someone like Son of Sam or Ted Bundy, it makes you question beauty standards for murderers. Even as horrifying as his casual creepiness and cruelty are, Hartnett fits the bill. 

While Cooper’s “aw, shucks” goofy dad demeanor is supposed to fool everyone, the film’s fun lies in watching his mischievous, cheshire cat smile while noticing the obstacles exponentially increase and plays in his hunters’ faces. He smiles with every muscle in his body, but there is nothing behind the eyes. Initially the point of the film is to watch Cooper figure out ways to get around security and charm the ones that are on the highest alert. He’s his own worst enemy as he keeps seeing a person who’s not there and seems to have an instinctual aversion to mother figures. The most subtle scene is when everyone surrounding Cooper is using their phone and he takes a bathroom break to have a quiet, private moment with his smartphone. It’s like a little treat for being hyper vigilant. 

Father knows best?

Trap begins to live up to its title as the concert takes center stage. Lady Raven is supposed to be a Lady Gaga-type because of her fans that are as devoted as Gaga’s Little Monsters. Unfortunately, Lady Raven is too lackluster, monochromatic, and safe for any hysterical adoration. Despite the concert being a pivotal plot point, the music doesn’t sweep away the viewers as much as the concertgoers. Putting a huge amount of Trap’s momentum on Saleka’s shoulders would be a huge responsibility for any actor, especially opposite Hartnett in the middle of a new career peak post-Oppenheimer. She needs to have Anya Taylor-Joy levels of steeliness and vulnerability, and it’s unfair to put that pressure on Saleka. The concept behind her character and the dynamic against Cooper are solid, but the execution does not heighten the tension. Instead it teases a more provocative, clever, and funnier show.

In Shyamalan’s universe, dads will do anything for their little girls, including make their dreams come true. In the opening scene, Cooper has to put on his encouraging game face when Riley suggests becoming a singer, Trap’s mission statement. While Ishana Shyamalan’s directorial debut The Watchers was at least visually stunning (though ultimately disappointing), M. Night should have reconsidered before ensuring that his elder daughter didn’t feel left out. It feels as if Shyamalan had considered making Lady Raven Cooper’s next target, but he couldn’t bear the idea of even theoretically putting his daughter in danger. When given the choice of making a good movie or a place for his daughter to cosplay as a singing sensation, Shyamalan chose the latter. This is not a case of hating the player, not the game. It is a case of opening a cocoon before a butterfly forms.

Then Trap has to tediously lay everything out to make sure the audience understands what happened. Another Shyamalan script in need of more work on the page. With so many false endings, it becomes a cinematic Russian nesting doll with one lesser conclusion opening to another. This section is the most derivative part of the film, aping Stephen King’s A Good Marriage if the killer had kids and liked them. Is Shyamalan resonating too much with the concept after surrounding himself with people who wade into the less-demented side of the stream? The film eventually punks out by trying to make its monster into a good dad instead of committing to the concept. A serial killer who uses women to distract the police shouldn’t be above seeing Riley the same way. Otherwise, this killer feels too oblique for Shyamalan to project his empty, mythological bloviating about the nature of evil.

The bottom line.

Trap is a roller coaster for how high Hartnett takes it, and how rapidly it plummets once he is no longer dominating the screen. It wouldn’t be a Shyamalan movie if he wasn’t so good at tripping himself up. Still, it’s an entertaining watch that’s visually more interesting than it has any right to be considering the story’s pulpiness. The stadium’s blood red lighting, red floors and red bathroom doors feel as if the Tanaka Arena designed itself hoping that a sadistic murderer would stalk its halls. It’d probably make the Overlook Hotel jealous. If Shyamalan was a more merciless director and less of an adoring father, it could have been perfect. But he loves his little girl.

Trap is now playing in theaters everywhere. You can watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. You can read more reviews by Sarah G. Vincent here.