I have had a love/hate relationship with M. Night Shyamalan these years. Sometimes he delivers the goods and surprises me with a great movie! Then there are similar movies trap, He seemed to miss the mark completely, leaving me more confused than pleased.
trap disappointing. From the moment the movie started, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this felt more like a vanity project than a true storytelling attempt. The plot feels like it was thrown together to give Shyamalan’s daughter, Saraika Shyamalan, a chance to shine on the big screen.
She plays a pop star character in the movie, Lady Raven, and I didn’t expect her to play such a big role in the story.
Now, let’s talk about the so-called distortion – or lack thereof. If you’re expecting a typical Shyamalan twist that shakes up the entire movie, you’ll be disappointed.
The biggest twist is that Saraika Shyamalan plays a much bigger role in this story than I thought. But perhaps the biggest revelation here is that no such person exists. Or maybe, Shyamalan decided to ditch his signature move altogether.
Instead, we have Josh Hartnett playing a deranged serial killer who tends to be an overly goofy dad telling bad dad jokes. No shocking revelations, no mind-bending plot twists – just a simple story.
The story itself is pretty uninteresting and the script doesn’t do much to enhance it. There were moments where I found myself laughing, but not in the way you want to laugh in a thriller. The dialogue is clunky, the pacing is slow, and the whole thing just falls flat.
I do want to give credit where credit is due because Josh Hartnett really tried to make it work. He worked hard and gave his best to the character Shyamalan created for him. Harnett plays a “butcher” father who takes his daughter to a concert only to be revealed to be a deranged serial killer, a character with moments of potential. But even his dedication couldn’t save the film itself.
in the end, trap Easily one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. I walked into the theater with a tinge of hope that Shyamalan would surprise me again and that maybe this would be one of those movies where he pulls the rug out from under our feet in the best possible way.
But that didn’t happen. Instead, I was left with a movie that didn’t work on any level, from a bland plot to mediocre acting.
If you’re a die-hard Shyamalan fan, you’ll probably still find something to appreciate here. But for me, trap It’s a misstep, a film that tries to be clever and thrilling, but ends up being neither.
