Trap

Parent

Trap
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
UK/Yemen/USA 2024
Blinding Edge Productions
UK cinema cut.

Warning: Spoilers from the trailer.

I have to say that, the older I get, the more I am mellowing towards M. Night Shyamalan. He’s much easier to stomach when he’s not exploring stories which lead to an obviously telegraphed ending and, with a film like this, he really knows how to pull all the stops out and craft a tale of downright gripping suspense, it has to be said.

Trap is about a family man parent called Cooper, played by Josh Hartnett... an actor I’ve always liked and who is playing a little against type here (at least in terms of the other films I’ve seen with him). He’s attending a rock concert put on by Lady Raven, played by M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka Shyamalan (not his other daughter, who directed the excellent The Watched, reviewed here).* Turns out that Saleka is not just a talented actress as she demonstrates here (especially in the last act of the movie) but she also composed and performs the many songs she sings, plays and dances her way through as Lady Raven so, yeah, a Hollywood family to take note of.

Okay, so Cooper is there with his daughter, played by Ariel Donoghue but, he’s very worried about the high police presence in and around the building. So he talks to a merchandise stall person and it turns out that the whole concert is one big trap to catch a violent serial killer known as The Butcher, since the police know he likes this particular artist. And if you’re thinking of seeing this one and you haven’t seen the trailer then... don’t read on. Big spoiler. And if you have seen the trailer you’ll know that the set up for the movie is... Cooper is The Butcher. So the first two thirds of the movie are Cooper trying to figure out how to get out of the trap and see what lengths he’ll go to in order to escape.

Also present at the concert and spearheading the operation is criminal profiler Dr. Josephine Grant (I do wonder if that character name is a deliberate Doctor Who reference) and she’s played by none other than the great Hayley Mills. Yeah, that’s right... the star of The Parent Trap sets a trap for a serial killing parent. That has a nice sense of poetic career continuity.

And, for those of you who know Shyamalan’s work you’ll already know it’s well shot and, especially in the interior scenes that don’t take place at the concert, beautifully framed. But, if you want a good thing to recommend this movie to you... it’s that it doesn’t, quite, do what you expect it to. I mean, yeah, there’s no big twist in the tale (so to speak) but the basic set up of ‘man needs to get out of trap’ does not take up the whole movie. It does some other, sometimes surprising things which, actually, hinge on the credibility of Saleka Shyamalan’s Lady Raven character. This film kinda holds its credibility on whether, through that performance, you think the character is capable of reacting to the situation in the way she does and, I have to tell you, she pulls it off surprisingly well here. There are a few false endings popping up like Russian nesting dolls and I was happily convinced by it the whole time.

So, yeah, the only other thing worth mentioning about Trap, well... other than it’s a very Hitchcockian time at the cinema, is that I suspect, although it’s not verified in this particular film, that it could well be another stealth installment in the Unbreakable series of films by the same director. I mean, it’s definitely set up for a sequel and I can’t help but think Cooper might well meet one or two of the characters from Glass (reviewed here) before long. So time will tell on that one, I guess.

*And, yes, the director does put himself in a little role in the movie again. You really can’t miss him.