Movie Review: Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Is a Standard Thriller with a Few Laughs as Well

“What you see is what you get” could have been the slogan for M. Night Shyamalan’s film career up until the last few years. Put a pseudo-shocking twist at the end of a supernatural horror or psychological thriller, with some wooden acting and unnatural dialogue, and you have a Shyamalan movie.

But lately he’s been dialing back on the twists and turns, for better and for worse. While a predictable cliché in his repertoire, abandoning the trope has now actually made his movies closer to bland. His new release, Trap, is neither suspenseful nor boring, and mostly reminds you of everything polarizing in the filmmaker’s reputation.

At a sold-out stadium concert for pop sensation Lady Raven (Saleka), an extensive team of SWAT and FBI agents are surrounding the building when the head of a secret operation, Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills), reveals that their wanted serial killer will be attending the show. At the same time, suburban dad Cooper (Josh Hartnett) and his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) have tickets and are enjoying the day bonding watching Riley’s favorite artist.

Alison Pill co-stars as Cooper’s wife and the Riley’s mom, Jonathan Langdon plays a merchandise vendor who clues Cooper in on the planned “trap” for the murderer, and Marnie McPhail appears as the mom of one Ariel’s classmates also at the concert. The trailers for Trap make it look like the whole story takes place at the venue, which would have honestly made the film more interesting than what we got.

Once the killer is very obviously revealed to be Cooper, we get the usual expository schlock and gimmicks with Saleka’s (Shyamalan’s real daughter) own music playing as the movie’s full soundtrack. The final 40 minutes outside of the stadium just retreads the usual thriller genre we all know.

Unfortunately, it’s a good thing Saleka is more interested in music as well, because her acting leaves a lot to be desired once she becomes a legitimate character involved with the plot. Mills is underutilized and it’s definitely not a coincidence she is the original star of David Swift’s The Parent Trap (1961) now cast in a movie about a parent trapped in a location.

Some people are treating Trap as more of a comedy to make up for the stilted dialogue and Hartnett’s performance because you have to assume he is at least intentionally portraying this role humorously with how on the nose his acting is here. The problem is that everyone else is playing their parts completely straight, so the tone is inconsistent, especially outside of the concert.

I did laugh a few times at the ridiculousness, and there is a very amusing cameo by rapper Kid Cudi, but anyone going into a Shyamalan film these days should already be aware of how their mileage will vary with the execution.