Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill, Marnie McPhail, Vanessa Smythe, Kid Cudi
Rating: (M)
★★★+
REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL
The essential post-Taylor Swift movie, M. Night Shyamalan’s newest genre-thriller falls into the age-old Trap (Reading, Rialto) of the director’s career: a brilliant concept but lukewarm execution.
The film centres Cooper (Josh Harnett), a serial killer known as "The Butcher" who attends a concert with his daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue). When he discovers the FBI are aware of his attendance, Cooper must evade capture without rousing the suspicion of either law enforcement or his daughter.
Enclosed in a stadium, Trap presents the story from the villain’s perspective in a way that encourages you to align with him. While Hartnett’s warm fatherly performance initially draws you in, the complexity of his character unravels as the film progresses.
The narrative tension is knit together well as you wait for the fallout from his increasingly rash actions.
Conceptually, the character of the Swiftie dad with mommy issues is quite engaging, and Josh Hartnett plays it to perfection. His performance mirrors a certain goofiness in the film which is entertaining, yet does not diminish the dramatic tension. The uncanny performance is complimented by Shyamalan’s cinematic style, in which a pronounced, heavy-handed artificiality adds to the film’s caricatured atmosphere.
However, as is often the case with Shyamalan, the elevator pitch hooks you but the execution of the final act (in particular) suffers from a sudden turn in pacing and narrative attention that leaves a lingering disappointment.
