Time: 105 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Offensive language
Cast:
Josh Hartnett as Cooper
Ariel Donoghue as Riley
Saleka Night Shyamalan as Lady Raven
Alison Pill as Rachel
Hayley Mills as Dr. Josephine Grant
Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Trap was one of my most anticipated films of the year. M. Night Shyamalan is one of my favourite directors and I’ve especially been loving his recent run of films, his latest didn’t disappoint.

I will give credit to the trailers for not showing too much because this is a movie that’s best experienced not knowing too much beforehand. It is easy to talk about the initial premise though, it’s established early on Josh Hartnett is taking his daughter to a concert and discovers that it’s a trap to catch a serial killer – the serial killer being him. It is one of Shyamalan’s most straightforward movies and it benefits as such, even the twists aren’t as major compared to some of his other films. Without getting into it too much, Trap goes in a different direction part way through which I wasn’t expecting, and I loved how it played out. It is very entertaining and thrilling from beginning to end, tightly paced and works very well with its short runtime of an hour and 40 minutes. It is also a surprisingly funny movie, it is self aware and the moments of levity really work. At the same time, there are some very tense sequences, particularly in the back half of the movie. One thing to note is that it does require suspending your disbelief to a degree, but by the end of the first act you should be able to get on board with its energy. It wasn’t trying to be super realistic, and the movie wouldn’t be nearly as fun if it was trying to be. There is a scene during the credits, so don’t immediately leave once the movie is over. 

Josh Hartnett gives the best performance I’ve seen from him, and one of the best performances from an M. Night Shyamalan film. He can seamlessly switch between a charismatic, likable and loving father in one moment, to chillingly imposing serial killer in another, and is fantastic. The subtle nuances and twitches help to make his character of Cooper very believable, layered and unpredictable. Other performances are great too including Ariel Donoghue and Alice Pill. Saleka, M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, also plays the lead singer of the concert at the centre of the film, and her performance is surprisingly good too. Jonathan Langdon is also hilarious in his small role.

M. Night Shyamalan’s direction is great as expected. It’s fantastically crafted with great attention to detail, and may well be one of his best directed films. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, with some very dynamic shots (so many satisfying split diopter shots). The setting in the stadium makes you feel trapped (fittingly enough) and I liked how the conversations are very intimate and feel claustrophobic, especially with the use of close ups. The movie also has a really great pop soundtrack from Saleka.

Trap is a tense, unpredictable, exciting, and highly entertaining thriller, fantastically directed and with a career best performance from Josh Hartnett.