Trap
Year: 2024
Rating: PG-13
Length: 105 minutes / 1.75 hours
In recent years, I feel like M. Night Shyamalan has regained some of his talent as a director. This may be because I go into a Shyamalan movie expecting there will be some logical plot hole that would collapse the entire concept in an instant, but that there are enough logical “yeah, that makes sense” twists that it’s an entertaining ride. Much like Old (2021), Trap (2024) is the latest of these kinds of films that feel like classic Shyamalan.
As a father of a young daughter, I can only imagine which pop star my child will become obsessed with and want to see in concert. I probably relate to this movie because I know such an event is in my future. Simply put, though, Josh Hartnett does an excellent job of showing how a smile and a bit of confidence can get you anywhere. Well, that and being a straight white male…but that’s probably a deeper concept that this film didn’t explicitly intend on exploring. In the “cat and mouse” between the authorities and the killer, this expert evasion is most of the fun in this movie.
While nepotism can be rampant in Hollywood, the nepotism here wasn’t so egregious as it usually is with famous individuals and their children. Here, Shyamalan seems to want to launch his daughter’s music career into the mainstream as I had never heard of Saleka at all before this film. She certainly has some musical talent, but her acting leaves a bit more to be desired once she’s out of her element. This is part of what makes the third act a little strained. Still, the ending is amusing and has just enough of that classic Shyamalan twist to it.
Another return to form for Shyamalan, I give Trap 4.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
