7/10

When I restarted this blog, I took advantage of the fact that links on twitter are basically broken, tweeting ambiguously about what I was actually reviewing out of shame of having my reviewer flame rekindled by Deadpool & Wolverine of all things. A friend of mine seemed to anticipate a Trap review (she knows how much I love Shyamalan), so if for nothing else, this one is for her.

Not that I needed a lot of extra convincing to pick up a pen for the latest Shyamalan movie. One of my proudest moments as a writer is pushing my limits with form in my review of Old. Unbreakable is my favorite movie of all time and Shyamalan is one of my biggest inspirations as a writer. I've gone on record defending his career in a lovely piece by Erin M. Brady. Both Old and Knock at the Cabin suggested a full return to greatness for Shyamalan in my eyes, despite the middling reviews of the former from most people I know. Trap, another attempt at a summer blockbuster following Old, is a great example of Shyamalan’s most consistent quality: he makes movies about really interesting situations. There’s a beach that makes you old, home invaders tell you the apocalypse is coming, there are aliens in your backyard, a kid sees dead people, you get it. It’s been a great year for Shyamalan’s place in the culture even without this movie. His daughter released her directorial debut, The Watchers. The Sixth Sense is a core cultural reference in Kendrick Lamar’s inescapable disses against Drake. He’s back in the cultural lexicon, possibly in a more reverent light than he’s been seen for a decade even amidst consistently successful films.

Trap is the most playful Shyamalan has been for his entire career. The premise alone, an entire concert set up rigged as a trap for the FBI to catch a serial killer, is a perfect hook for a fun thriller. And Shyamalan is clearly having a lot of fun, pulling from Hitchcock and De Palma’s sense of escalating tensions to create an immediately engrossing thrill ride. But Shyamalan has his own way of immediately bringing his want to play with audience expectations to the table. Going in knowing nothing, the reveal that our protagonist, firefighter and father of two Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is the killer coming so quickly in the runtime was a delicious surprise. For some, Trap will be a movie where this is an irredeemable choice of framing that the movie never recovers from. For me, this was a film that ignited the most sadistic corner of my brain. I simply could not wait to see what scheme Cooper would try to do next to push the limits of the police presence in the stadium, distract knowing venue employees, or prey on the trust of unsuspecting passerby. A fantastic captivity thriller that elicits the same audience desire as classic home invasion films, Trap sets itself apart by putting a homicidal escape artist in a situation where he faces unthinkable odds. The audience is invited to start thinking of potential solutions to Cooper’s problem, or to simply watch as he figures it out himself. It’s more complex than simple set ups and payoffs, Cooper runs into additional problems or notices potential tools he never gets around to actually using. The audience’s invitation to play along offers a uniquely fun experience. I’ve compared bad horror movies to amusement park rides in the past, in that they feel so precise that they constantly show their hand,

[Some spoilers ahead]

Trap is also deceptively rich from a visual level. Shyamalan puts himself under some visual constraints that allow specific moments to become more meaningful. By keeping the audience’s view of the stage relegated to Cooper’s ground level point of view, one of the year’s greatest sequences is formed when Cooper cons his way backstage for his daughter to join in on the concert. He watches her, a giant screen projecting her next to his comparatively miniscule stature. A man obsessed with his own performance watching his daughter perform while being unabashedly herself, something he’s never been able to do (or maybe he has?). Things ramp up even further when they leave the concert hall, thanks to well executed scaffolds of tension that raise the stakes as the original premise is shed, and a new captivity thriller begins. Allison Pill’s performance as Cooper’s wife is brilliant. She’s suspicious but deeply caring, desperate to hold on but ultimately brave enough to let go. She soothes and strips Cooper with her words, coolly protective of her children.

The final few minutes give us a showdown between Hartnett and Pill that’s riveting to see, culminating in a denouement and final rug pull that brought a sadistic grin to my face as the credits rolled. Trap is a surprising showcase of Shyamalan’s directorial prowess, a movie that indulges my most sadistic wants as a horror fan to see the bad guy tear the world to shreds.