By Seth Lukas Hynes
Trap
Starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue and Alison Pill
M
4.5/5
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap is a taut psychological thriller about keeping up appearances.
Cooper (Josh Hartnett), who is secretly the serial killer The Butcher, brings his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a pop concert, but it turns out the whole concert is an elaborate trap to catch him.
Hartnett is chilling as Cooper, shifting effortlessly from an affable dad mask to Cooper’s deceptive, dead-eyed true self. Shyamalan draws clever parallels between Cooper faking normal emotion and parents acting happy for their kids’ benefit; Marnie McPhail has an amusing small role as a rival parent who, ironically, behaves crazier than the actual psychopath.
It’s fascinating and even grimly funny to watch Cooper trick and evade his captors, camouflaging himself within their operation.
As the trap tightens around him, Cooper’s wits keep the police – and us – on our toes, and the gripping final act (which has an astounding performance from Alison Pill as Cooper’s wife) delivers a string of shocking curveballs, but not to the point of exhausting the viewer.
M. Night’s eldest daughter Saleka plays fictional pop star Lady Raven, and composed fourteen new songs for the film.
Saleka is compelling in both the dramatic scenes and musical performances, and even if Saleka/Raven’s pop isn’t your thing, Riley’s enthusiasm throughout the concert is infectious.
Trap reaffirms M. Night’s talent for suspenseful small-scale scenarios, and we need to retire the notion that M. Night is an inconsistent filmmaker; The Happening and After Earth are still awful, but over the past ten years, he’s had far more winners than duds.
A superbly-acted and cleverly-written thriller, Trap is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
