Written And Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Cooper (to Lady Raven): "I think you're looking for me."
The pitch for this movie was something in the lines of a Taylor Swift concert meeting The Silence Of The Lambs. That pitch alone seemed like one hell of a wild idea and it's one that nearly worked. I'll admit that I may have enjoyed this movie a little bit compared to others.
In terms of characters, you've got an affable dad named Cooper Adams (Josh Garrett) who decided to reward his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) getting good grades by taking her to the concert of Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan). I'd say that was a nice reward for a teenager.
The concert itself certainly felt like a concert because we get a lot of songs from Lady Raven that made up over half of the movie. Of course, considering the director in question, a twist had to occur. Also a movie title needed to be explained as well.
Lady Raven wasnt just playing a concert but she was also bait in a very convolutedly thought out trap by the FBI to catch the serial killer known as the Butcher. Yeah, suddenly Cooper wasn't just a nice dad after all but also a serial killer about to get caught by a very determined profiler named Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills).
From this point onwards, there's an entertaining but bizarre chain of events in which Cooper preyed on getting Riley on stage with her idol during a segment in order to escape backstage. It kind of worked but Cooper had to out himself as a killer to Lady Raven and made the horrible mistake of underestimating her.
I know the nepo baby thing has become a bigger issue than it used to be but I have to admit that for a relatively inexperienced actor, I thought Saleka Night Shyamalan actually did a good job as the pop singer caught up in this. She worked brilliantly alongside Josh Hartnett and her singing was good. I also just got a kick out of how resourceful she turned out to be against Cooper.
As for Cooper, we got something of an obvious backstory about why he became a serial killer but there was a nice reveal in the fact that it was actually his wife Rachel (Alison Pill) who brought about his downfall. As for the ending, I didn't mind the ambiguity too much but I wouldn't expect a sequel anytime soon.
- M. Night Shyamalan popped up as well, playing the uncle and groupie of Lady Raven. A mid credit scene had a character's reaction to his Butcher encounter.
- Both Lady Raven and Josephine Grant pretending to be Cooper's mother felt like a nod to certain horror sequels. I also love that the latter character is named after a Doctor Who character. I hope that was intentional.
- Standout music: Lady Raven's whole set list for her concert. Okay, the songs Dreamer Girl, Release and Save Me.
- Chronology: Present day Philadelphia.
I actually liked Trap a lot more than most did. Yes, there's a lot of it that feels nonsensical and you could argue there's too much time spent at the concert itself. There's also the fact that for a movie about a serial killer, it's bloodless with would be victim Spencer getting rescued but I kind of dug the absolute bonkers approach it had and I had fun with it. It could've done a slightly shorter runtime though.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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