Trap!

I recently watched “Trap,” a psychological thriller written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. I had the chance to see it at an outdoor cinema, an experience I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend watching movies in such a setting, regardless of the genre. As for "Trap", it was a story that evoked very different emotions in its two halves. You know how sometimes we watch something and find ourselves rooting for the thief, the murderer, or any character who is simply the villain? I watched the first half of the film with that sense of unease and inner conflict.

The film starts in a concert venue where we meet a very excited little girl named Riley (Ariel Donoghue) and her caring father, Cooper (Josh Hartnett). We soon learn that the concert is by a pop star named Lady Raven (Saleka), who has a huge fan base. Saleka is M. Night Shyamalan's daughter and she created an entire album for the movie. Moreover, in the initial scenes, because of the numerous police officers at the venue, the audience gets worried for the girl and her caring father. However, it doesn’t take long to realize that there is nothing to worry about because the danger is actually Cooper himself.

In the first half, Cooper's luck seems to be on his side multiple times. He first learns from a chatty merchandise vendor, Jamie, (Jonathan Langdon) that Lady Raven’s show is a sting operation. The police somehow learned that the serial killer “Butcher” would be at the concert and that they had taken countless measures to prevent him from leaving. Cooper becomes more and more anxious as Jamie reveals more information about the operation, including the unique code words between the employees.

Later, Cooper uses Jamie’s card to access places for the employees and gives him a chance to interact with the police as well. One scene is particularly hilarious where Cooper enters a room full of police and slides his way through them to get a coffee. As he leaves the room he grabs a police radio which allows him to hear about the whole operation and he becomes more cautious even though he is now one step ahead of them. At several points, he’s right under the police’s nose, sometimes even in their protective custody which I think was quite funny. Watching the first half, I found myself (and probably many others too) wanting Cooper to get away. Of course, a killer needs to be caught, but our killer outsmarts the police so cleverly and almost mockingly that you want to see him continue. Also the fact that Cooper is a concerned father makes his character more sympathetic than it otherwise might be.

However, in the second half, things take a turn for the worse, and I end up watching with a strong desire to see the killer caught, starkly contrasting with my feelings during the first half. As Cooper's brutal side becomes more apparent and the situation grows darker, starting with Cooper’s attempt to leave the concert hall, the resolution to catch the killer becomes a relief.

I think I might have preferred if the entire film had been set in the concert venue because watching Cooper trapped in a situation while the police tried to predict his every move was both entertaining and gripping. The director skillfully immersed us in Cooper’s viewpoint, prompting us to map our escape routes. After Cooper managed to escape from the concert venue, unfortunately the movie fails to arouse as much curiosity as before. Still I would recommend catching the movie while it's still in theaters.