It’s turning out to be the Summer of the Shyamalans. In June we had THE WATCHERS, which was the directorial film debut of M. Night’s younger daughter, Ishana. Now it’s Dad’s turn with TRAP and he’s brought along his older daughter Saleka to feature prominently in it.

Inspired by a real-life event, known as Operation Flagship that took place in 1985, TRAP tells the story of everyday fireman-dad Cooper (Josh Hartnett, OPPENHEIMER; OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE), who takes his teenage daughter Riley to see her favourite pop singer, Lady Raven (Saleka), in concert. While the performance is going on, Cooper notices a heavy police presence at the arena and men in the crowd who sort of fit his description are being whisked away from their seats. It turns out that the concert was just a ruse to trap a serial killer known as The Butcher. Cooper, we quickly learn, is The Butcher (that’s not a spoiler as it’s in the trailer) and now he must use all his wits to get out of the arena not only without being caught but also without arousing Riley’s curiosity.

I’ll say this much: TRAP is a very entertaining film but that’s only because of Hartnett’s performance. The one-time teen idol took some time away from Hollywood because he wasn’t happy receiving that kind of attention and the media scrutiny that goes with it. After 15 years of being in small movies, he’s now doing the types of roles he always wanted to do and working with A-list directors again. Here, he expertly balances between being the warm and loving family man and the scheming psychopath.

Where the film falters is with the plot, which has a gaping hole that is casually introduced in the second act and is called back in the third. Once it is introduced, nothing in the story makes sense anymore. All the audience can do is suspend their belief and ride along with Shyamalan.

The filmmaker has said that TRAP is a cross between a Taylor Swift concert and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. He’s not wrong but he spends far too much time showcasing his daughter’s musical talent (she also wrote the film’s music) to the pace of the story’s detriment. If that’s really what he wants to do then he should produce her music videos rather than embedding them into a crime thriller.

Unlike much of Shyamalan’s early work, there’s no big twist in the third act that subverts the audience’s expectations. Instead, he employs lots of little twists. Some of them work and some of them don’t. Again, you’ll have to suspend any sense of belief to make it to the end of the film.

TRAP opened in Hong Kong yesterday (August 8th) and rolls out around the world today. It’s enjoyable. Just don’t analyze the plot too closely.

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