Cooper (Josh Hartnett) takes his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see the biggest Popstar on the planet perform live at a local arena. However the FBI have decided to use the gig as a trap for a serial killer known as “The Butcher” who they believe will be there. 

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie lays its cards on the table very early on. In fact, for anyone who has seen the trailer they already know before going in the high concept presented here. “The Butcher” is Cooper and the audience will find itself challenged to root for his escape from a seemingly impossible situation. 

The timing of Trap’s release is one of its two best facets. With the world enthralled by Taylor Swift’s Eras World Tour this film does a reasonable job of capturing this zeitgeist moment on screen. Riley is a super fan of Lady Raven and the portrayal of the excitement and passion of a pop audience is commendable. Unfortunately the execution of the actual pop show is lacking. Shyamalan cannot be faulted for his belief in himself and his family as he has cast his daughter Saleka Shyamalan as the biggest Popstar in the world. The issue is that having recently attended a gig on Swift’s world tour (yes I am a Swiftie) I can say that they have entirely failed to represent the scale of a pop concert with only Cooper’s reaction to the ear piercing screams of teenage girls being entirely accurate. Otherwise the show looks entirely flat and devoid of spectacle. 

The other facet of the film that I enjoyed the most is Hartnett’s performance. He is able to switch between caring father and family man and sociopath with ease and unravels in a very entertaining manner as the film goes on. 

Unfortunately everything else about Trap is frustratingly mediocre or bad. As with many Shyamalan films the dialogue is earnest, on the nose and filled with many sentences that no actual human being would say. The premise is also hard to buy into given the logistical nightmare it would present for law enforcement and the fact that it is hard to justify the amount of the performance Cooper is not actually watching. Shyamalan understands that he cannot sustain an entire film in one location but as soon as he leaves it the film plummets in quality and engagement. The result is something that is simultaneously intriguing, frustrating, implausible and occasionally dull. 

There is a good idea in here. It just fails to find its way out of Shyamalan’s high concept.