The Wasted Potential of Trap

On a movie with potential -- and how it was watered down to nothing

M. Night Shyamalan is a controversial figure in the directing world. There’s no denying that, really, with each movie he releases being a shot in the dark for audiences. If you’re going to the theater to watch one of his creations, you have to tread on the side of caution. Sure, you might feel comfortable in your plush recliner with your bucket of popcorn and Coke, but as soon as those trailers finish, you’re in for a whole new world.

You might come out of the theater in pure bliss, feeling like you just watched the next Split. Or, you might come out of the theater simply confused and maybe even angry. That beautiful belly full of popcorn and M&Ms can’t save you from the emotions that a weird M. Night Shyamalan movie gives you.

When I went to see Trap, I was excited to watch a fresh new horror movie on the big screen again. The last one I had gone to see had been Late Night with the Devil, and the trailers for Trap had been deceptively interesting.

Walking out of the theater after watching Trap felt… confusing. The trailers presented a much different film than what I watched, with the movie leaning less into horror thriller and more into strangely silly. It was certainly a waste of what could have been a fascinating plot line.

For those of you unaware of what the basic story of Trap is, here’s a quick summary:

A father takes his daughter to a concert. Although everything seems to be normal, he soon finds out that the concert is a trap for a serial killer that has been terrorizing the area. The issue is that he is the infamous killer, and now he must find an escape route.

Seems fun, right? The trailers certainly gave it a cool flair as well. Unfortunately, the movie proved itself to be an absolute mess.

The Pros

While the film itself falls flat in story, it lifts itself up with Josh Harnett’s performance as Cooper. While the rest of the cast feels like a lame high school theater play, Harnett steals the show with his character.

Harnett plays the main character of Trap, balancing between being a loving father and a mentally unstable serial killer. Compared to everybody else in the film, Harnett seems to take his role much more seriously. There’s a distinct difference between what Harnett brings to the movie vs. the rest of the cast, with his acting chops proving to be in great shape.

Harnett is able to make you feel a connection to Cooper. The relationship between Cooper and his daughter, Riley, is genuine, and you can tell that he truly cares about his family. He goes above and beyond to please her, and tricks us into believing that he’s your typical run-of-the-mill father.

Because of this, his serial killing background doesn’t deter the audience too much. Instead, you’re more likely to want Cooper to successfully escape the concert and continue to be happy with his family, even though you understand he doesn’t necessarily deserve it. Cooper is meant to be a confusing character that challenges the concept of good vs. evil — is he an evil person who does good things, or is he “good” person who does evil things?

Harnett’s speech near the end of the film that really put his character in perspective, explaining that he’s furious about potentially going to prison. He isn’t angry about the idea of going, though, but rather he’s angry that he’ll miss out on his children growing up. He is a good father, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good person.

Unfortunately, Harnett’s performance is dwarfed by the problems the rest of the movie has. It may present an interesting plot concept and great starring actor, but that doesn’t save it in the least.

However, there is one more saving grace to Trap, and that’s Jonathan Langdon. He plays a vendor in the movie, and although his role is somewhat insignificant, he’s an absolute delight when on screen. He’s the light in the dark tunnel, I’d say, especially when everything else is so painfully dull.

The Cons

I won’t say Trap is the worst movie I’ve ever watched. I think that’s a gross exaggeration, and anybody who says that probably hasn’t watched a lot of movies. It’s definitely not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s not god awful. It’s okay for what it is, but it’s also a major disappointment in what it should have been.

It does pose lots of major problems though. It’s a mess, that’s for sure.

The film tries not to take itself too seriously, but that’s one of the first mistakes. The trailers show a psychological thriller, focusing on the mind of a serial killer. When the movie starts cracking jokes at every corner, it doesn’t feel at all what was advertised.

Your expectations aren’t met in any shape, way, or form. It feels like one of those “expectations vs. reality” memes, except it’s not as funny. It’s actually just depressing that such a great idea was wasted on what Trap ended up being.

Its second mistake was the concert. The concert should have been in the background. It was meant to be the setting of the story, but instead it became the focus. Lady Raven’s songs littered the story with too many off-key performances. Of course, that’s because Lady Raven is played by M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka.

Once you know that information, you realize the entire movie was made as a giant advertisement for his daughter’s singing career. Nepotism at its finest, I suppose.

The movie feels more like a concert film than a horror movie, and Cooper’s story fades into the background as you’re forced to listen to the next pop song. Admittedly, some of the songs aren’t bad, but it’s the fact that they take up so much screen time. Nobody watched Trap to see a girl sing, but everybody watched to see a serial killer. Unfortunately, said serial killer is barely on screen most of the time, as Lady Raven hogs the spotlight.

There is absolutely no reason for the amount of time Lady Raven is on screen. It doesn’t benefit the story in any way. Instead, it wastes precious time that could be used for Cooper. In the end, you just feel bad for Harnett being handed such a lamely written film.

It’s not just the constant singing from Lady Raven though, it’s also the lack of care in everything else. In watching the film, it feels like Harnett is the only one actually putting in effort. The rest of the cast doesn’t seem to care about their performances, or we simply don’t see enough of their characters to make a fair judgment.

One of those characters is, again, Lady Raven. Saleka’s poor acting skills make for any scene of Lady Raven hard to get through. The serious nature of certain scenes turn cringey when she talks, and she would have benefited greatly from acting lessons. It’s unfortunate, considering she could certainly get far in her music career, but I feel like this movie only lessened her chances at success.

It’s not just her though, even major characters like Cooper’s daughter lack the skills they should have for a major motion picture.

Outside of poor acting, the film doesn’t seem to actually start until you’re about 40 minutes in. And when it does, the plot becomes undeniably goofy. Plot holes among plot holes emerge and the linear storytelling becomes stale.

But is there anything that could have saved it?

To Fix What’s Broken

Firstly, we have to forget about the concert. Lady Raven should only be seen as a background character. She shouldn’t have any speaking roles outside of being the singer, and she has no business being part of the actual story.

Let her be in the background, with her songs being an afterthought instead of the main focus.

Now that that’s out of the way, we can focus on Cooper. We need more exposition on his character. Let the audience see Cooper in action, show some of his kills instead of inferring it. Yes, there are certainly times where leaving the audience to their imagination is the smart choice in a horror movie, but this is not one of them.

We don’t know what Cooper is actually capable of. Therefore, it would’ve been smart to start the film with a brutal kill and then lead into the concert. We don’t even have to see Cooper’s face during the kill, we just need to know what happened to the victim. That way you can still get the false sense of surprise when we find out Cooper is actually “The Butcher” — although, I thought that reveal was silly considering we already knew he was a serial killer from the trailers.

Still, it’s important that the audience understands the threat that your villain poses. I still don’t know exactly what Cooper did to his victims. Sure, they hinted that it was “messed up,” but that means nothing to me. Like… messed up as in he stabbed them a lot or messed up as in he tortured them to death? There’s a spectrum here, and the audience needs to know where Cooper falls on it.

To add to that, let us get into Cooper’s head more. He clearly suffers from mental illness, yet we never see that. All we know is that Cooper had trauma with his mother, and that he’s possibly on the ASPD spectrum. Other than that, his mental state is simply a guessing game.

I also believe the film would’ve benefited with Cooper being a single father. It would have proven a much more interesting dynamic between Cooper and Riley, as the wife and son in the movie feel like a waste of space. Sure, the wife is the reason the cops are after him in the first place, but honestly… we don’t need her to provide that plotline.

Instead, a single father route would have given the opportunity for a far more intense emotional pull. Perhaps the mother died in an accident, and because of that, Cooper has become overprotective over Riley. It’s a bit cliche, but it works for what we’re trying to accomplish here.

There could have been an emotional scene of Riley finding out about her father’s wrong doing, with her having to pick between him or justice.

All in all, the movie needed more of Cooper. Ironic, considering he’s the main character of the film anyway. Really, it would have been perfect if the movie had focused on the delicate balance of his personal life and his bloodlust.

How does a murderer keep his dark secrets hidden away from his family? Let us see how differently his mind works, and how he’s trying to figure out the confusing maze of emotions in his life. A serial killer being a loving father is an interesting plot, and the movie simply wasted all of it.

Trap is okay for what it is. If you treat it as a super camp horror film, then it doesn’t have much room to disappoint. However, when you compare the movie to what the trailer tried to play it off as, it changes the vibes completely.

At least Josh Harnett can prove he can play a pretty damn good horror villain, so here’s to hoping he can get a better script next time.