Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Actors: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills
Genre: Thriller
Rating: M
‘Trap’ is M Night Shyamalan’s 16th film, and is similar
to his last few films (‘Old’ and ‘Knock at the Cabin’): a decent concept full
of promise, but never truly becomes too exciting or engaging. This time, we
follow Cooper (Hartnett) and his daughter Riley (Donoghue) at a pop concert,
which is fictional singer Lady Raven (M Night’s daughter, Saleka). There’s lots
of police and FBI at the concert (allegedly in Philadelphia, even though it’s
filmed in Ontario) as they try to catch a serial killer.
The twist is given away early, with Cooper revealed to be
the killer and main character, with the FBI profiler, Dr Grant (Mills) relegated
to supporting cast, the opposite of most crime thrillers. There’s another
slight twist in the final act, but nothing of ‘The Sixth Sense’ or ‘The Village’
scale. About 75% of the film takes place at the concert, so it kind of feels M
Night is trying to shoehorn a star-making turn for his daughter into the film.
Some pretty “very unlikely” moments throughout, but Hartnett
and Donoghue are both solid. Some interesting camera choices, almost too
obvious, which is how I was left feeling at the end too – not a bad film, but
nothing truly memorable or special either. Glad M Night is still making
original films, but expected a bit more.
Overall: Not scary enough for a thriller
Gav's Rating: 3 stars
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