September 5, 2024 – My relationship to M. Night Shyamalan's movies is long and mixed. I have tended to like some of his less popular movies, such as “The Last Airbender” (2010) more than some of his hits, including his biggest hit, “The Sixth Sense” (1999). Shyamalan is best known for his O. Henry style surprise endings.

“Trap” is more of the same, with lots of plot twists. The entire plot, in fact, is silly and unbelievable, and each twist is increasingly absurd. The plot of this movie is more of an exercise in twists rather than storytelling. Surprisingly, however, I found Shyamalan's twist obsession to be quite entertaining this time around.

The reason I decided to see this movie has more to do with the actors involved than the plot. Josh Hartnett is an underrated actor who first came to my notice in 2001 with an outstanding performance as the Iago character, Hugo Goulding in “O,” an effective film adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. “Trap” also includes one of my favorite stars from the 1960s, Hayley Mills (“The Parent Trap” and “The Moon Spinners”).

Hartnett plays Cooper Abbott, a firefighter and seemingly normal family man, who is accompanying his daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue of the “Wolf Like Me” series) to a pop star concert headlined by Lady Raven (played by Shyamalan's daughter, Saleka, who performs her own music in the movie). M. Night Shyamalan has a cameo in the film, playing Raven's uncle, who is working at the concert.

It quickly becomes apparent that the concert is a trap, since there is a massive police force present inside and outside the auditorium. The police are there to catch Cooper, who is, in secret, a serial killer. The police have evidence that the killer will be at the concert. Led by skilled profiler Dr. Josephine Grant (Mills) police hope to sift through the crowd upon exit to catch him, even though they don't have a name or even a definite description of the killer, known as “The Butcher.”

This plan not only seems unlikely to succeed, but it puts members of the public at serious risk. Cooper tricks Jamie (Jonathan Langdon of the “Run the Burbs” series) and another concert employee into giving him vital information about the trap. He spends the entire concert trying to find a way out of the trap, and keeps finding that all exits are guarded, except for one. The game is afoot.

Layer after layer of deceptions are peeled away during the course of the film. Suspense rises as people are exposed to danger by a charming, but desperate murderer willing to kill anyone in order to escape the trap. Cooper is fiendishly clever as he either tricks or forces people to help him escape the trap, but those in charge of the trap are also very clever with counter-moves of their own. In fact, the plot is almost like a parody of a Columbo-type criminal versus detective game.

Just when you think the game is up, there is another twist. Even though the twists are increasingly outlandish, they are entertaining. There is even a Marvel-like mid-credits scene that is mildly amusing. Through it all, Hartnett's chameleon-like Cooper is endlessly fascinating to watch. Saleka is also very good as a pop star showing unexpected grit, quick thinking and coolness under pressure. Also solid is Alison Pill (“Vice”) who plays Cooper's wife, Rachel, who has an unexpected role in the movie's plot.

Given the mixed reviews, I liked this film more than I thought I would. It is a somewhat silly exercise in plot twists, but enjoyable nonetheless. It rates a C+.

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