“Trap”: M. Night Shymalan’s Twist-iest

The premise of a father taking his teenage daughter to a Taylor Swift-like concert in “Trap” by Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan is timely.  Cooper, the father of Riley, is a doting father and fireman, but he is also a cold-blooded serial killer known as The Butcher. The concert in the film has been set up to trap him. How did the authorities know that Cooper would be among the 300 men present in a crowd of 20,642? That would be telling; you’ll have to see the film for yourself to find out.

In “Trap,” which opened on August 2^nd,  the film has so many twists before it concludes after 105 minutes, that I’d be giving away too much of the plot if I were to list them all.  Just when you think “this is the end” there’s yet another surprise. Some you see coming; some you don’t. Some seem plausible; some don’t.

THREE TAKEAWAYS:

I have three main things that I would say about this film:

Saleka Shyamalan’s Performance:

• It appears that M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka Night Shyamalan, aspires to be a diva like Taylor Swift. What better way to launch her than making her one in this film? Saleka wrote and performed most of the music. She also is scripted as the heroine, a speaking part, by the film’s end.

Josh Hartnett’s Casting:

• Josh Hartnett is an actor whose talent was recognized over 25 years ago. The issue is that he sort of disappeared into more minor movies and television roles for a long time. That was until his recent role in “Oppenheimer.” However, someone who was more average in appearance (Jesse Plemens or Mark Wahlberg, for instance) would have been a better choice to play Cooper. Hartnett is a good actor; he does his best with the script (which discusses such trendy things as teenaged slang and the use of “crispy” to mean “good”—-just as “tight” had that slang meaning once). But audiences expect serial killers to be at least a little less handsome. We can argue this, by citing Ted Bundy or Richard Ramirez “The Night Stalker” as examples of serial killers whose appearances were not sinister. I realize that Hartnett’s good looks did contribute to the success of many of his manipulative moves in the film. Nonetheless, I still think that Cooper (Josh Hartnett) came off as way too “good.” The hidden evil is extremely well hidden under Hartnett’s handsome exterior. And with the film’s PG-13 rating and no real gore or mayhem onscreen, Hartnett comes off as less monster and more accomplished manipulator.

The Music:

• The music wasn’t as “catchy” as Ms. Swift’s lyrically, but Saleka acquitted herself nobly, aided by Kid Cudi as The Thinker onstage. She can actually sing and also plays the piano in the film.

THE CAST

Who knew that Hayley Mills of “The Parent Trap” (1960) was still alive? And why would she be running the show as the FBI profiler who has set up the trap to catch the Butcher at a concert by the teenaged songstress of the moment? Someone suggested that Shymalan simply liked the fact that she was in “The Parent Trap” and that was enough. [No, it wasn’t.] We are left to assume that the Butcher’s hostility towards women originated from his relationship with his mother, but the victims are not all female. It’s Pop Psychology light without much that is new. I’m old enough to remember Rod Steiger as Christopher Gill, a psychopathic killer, in 1968’s “No Way to Treat A Lady,” which was co-written by William Goldman. The psychology we are fed in a kitchen scene has been shared as far back as 56 years ago, and that film took a deeper dive into the topic.

Alison Pill portrays Cooper’s wife Rachel. Hers is one of those faces that you know you’ve seen in many movies. She does a respectable but unremarkable job. She’s known for “The Newsroom” (2012-2014) and “Vice,” and has a fantastic career resume of work, but the part, while pivotal to the plot, is small.

More remarkable and memorable in his role is Jonathan Langdon. Langdon plays Jamie, the Black arena employee who unwittingly helps Cooper out at the arena. He provides a bit of comic relief while inadvertently helping Cooper. He makes such an impression that Shymalan has attached a small video vignette in the film,  a sort of postscript, that shows Jamie’s reaction when he learns the true identity of The Butcher.

“TRAP” IN THE RANKINGS OF SHYMALAN FILMS

I’ve seen nearly all of Shyamalan’s films. I feel comfortable in saying that of the films on that list, the classic “The Sixth Sense” is the best.  “Trap” would be included as one of the best other than “The Sixth Sense,” book-ended by “Split”. That film benefited greatly from a world-class performance from James McAvoy. “Signs” benefits from having Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rory Culkin (and don’t forget the tin-foil hats!). The other films I’ve listed above left me feeling disappointed, but I was not disappointed in the acting tension and twistiness of “Trap.” I was just unconvinced that Josh Hartnett was the right choice for the lead role.

 

One player onscreen who WAS the right choice for the role was the young girl playing Riley. Riley is Cooper’s Lady Raven-obsessed daughter, Ariel Donoghue. The 14-year-old has appeared in the television series “Wolf Like Me” (2022-2023) and already has eleven IMDB credits. She’s good, and, in this part, she is excellent. I’ll be watching for her in the future.

Josh Hartnett did a really good job. My issue is that he was too darned good-looking, and charming, to convince me that he could ever really be bad to the bone. With its PG-13 rating, we don’t see any of his gory handiwork, and there is also not a lot of shooting, so the charming, intelligent persona of the “bad guy” prevails.

THE SETTING:

Cinematographer Sayonbha Mukdeeprom (“Challengers”) could have done more with the crowd scenes. I could definitely relate to the hysteria of young teenage girls at these concerts. I was present at a Beatles concert in 1965 at the San Francisco Cow Palace during the peak of Beatlemania. This is where teenage girls, with tears streaming down their faces, knew every line of every song and screamed themselves senseless. I remember looking around at both concerts and saying, “Wtf is going on?” I was beyond the age of hysterical fandom. But I’ve seen it go down, and it is really something to be in the middle of it all. That sense of mass crowd hysteria could have been conveyed more intensely. I remember entire chapters in my Social Psychology college textbooks about crowd psychology, so not pursuing it in more depth seemed like a lost opportunity.

The concert takes place within what is presented as the Tanaka Arena in Philadelphia. Only it isn’t.

Shyamalan always pays tribute to his Philadelphia roots. He has a CGI insertion of a building into Philadelphia’s skyline for “Glass,”. I have a sneaking suspicion that this film, which was shot in Canada, was playing fast and loose with the Tanaka Arena’s real location. In fact, the exterior of the building is really Canada’s Rogers Centre.  The exterior is Canada’s First Ontario Centre.

THE BAD

In his continuing quest to have numerous plot twists, a few that are included are waaay out there, (like the final one in the film.) I also object to the “escape from the limo” plot point. I’m sure others will contribute their own objections to the many attempts to insert plot “twists” that go on for a good 30 to 40 minutes past what I thought would be the finale.

CONCLUSION

It’s tough to always hit a home run and get a “twist” that satisfies. I salute M. Night Shyamalan for continuing to try and for delivering an enjoyable film that holds your interest, despite its shortcomings. I’d predict more singing for M. Night Shyamalan’s talented daughter Saleka. Her role in “Trap” was much  better than Ishana Shymalan’s directorial debut with “Watchers,” which had far larger plot problems than “Trap.”