I know I’m probably going to be the only person you know to tell you they loved this movie – too many people have just convinced themselves that M. Night Shyamalan is a bad filmmaker to ever go into a film of his with good faith – but goddamn I loved this movie. I’ve always had a softer spot for Shyamalan – watching Signs at 10 years old completely changed my world and sparked my lifelong devotion to film and filmmaking – so I’ll admit I’m biased. Yeah, he’s made some awful films but if that’s all you care about you’re really missing out. From Split on, he’s never felt more free and experimental as a storyteller and as a craftsman. It’s been such an exhilarating and invigorating period of his career. I’m telling you, you’re missing out. Trap stands out from the rest of his films as it is point blank the most fun movie he’s made. I was grinning like the grinch and giggling for most of it. It’s a blast. It is a giddy, silly work. I’ve seen it twice already. It also did something that a film hasn’t forced me to do in a minute, and that’s even make me want to write about it. I gotta give it that.

Trap follows devoted father Cooper (Josh Hartnett) as he takes his young daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert of her favorite popstar Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan). While there, he discovers that the heavy police presence is because the FBI has learned that a serial killer known as “The Butcher” is there and the entire thing is a trap to catch him. That’s bad for Cooper, as he is in fact “The Butcher”.

I’ve always been a fan of Josh Hartnett, ever since I snuck watched 30 Days of Night on TV in high school with the volume turned down real low so my family wouldn’t find out I was watching an R-rated film. And with him it’s not really anything I can point to that he necessarily does better or stands out doing more, I just like him. Watching him just makes me smile. I don’t know what else to say. Putting him and Shyamalan together is just easy math to make me like a film. On that note too, it is cool to see two guys who when they were younger were supposed to be the next big thing, then they weren’t, experienced real failure but still managed to go on to have a fulfilling and rewarding 2nd act to their careers then work together is just cool. Hartnett is having a hoot here, he’s so much fun to watch scene to scene, moment to moment. He’s constantly bouncing between extremes as an actor, and he’s intuitive enough to clue you in to how his character is thinking and how he makes decisions without having to really come out and explicitly tell you. He rides this perfect balance of being animated while being subtle and being subtle while being animated. It’s one of my favorite performances of the year. 

In a reminder that before Shyamalan is a filmmaker he is a guy that loves being a dad, he cast his daughter Saleka Shyamalan as the pop star Lady Raven, and she does good! The songs that she wrote and performed for the film are catchy and good enough to keep you engaged in the film’s concert setting, and when she has to act she holds her own against veterans like Hartnett. She’s good enough to make you believe in the altruism of her character. Ariel Donoghue is a lot of fun, making her character’s preteen antics feel believable. 

When you watch Shyamalan’s films, there’s always an element of you going: “People don’t talk like that.” That doesn’t change here, and your mileage for his dialogue may vary, but also at this point with how many films he’s made you got to stop getting mad when it happens. You don’t go to a Michael Bay film and get mad that shit blows up. It’s a part of who he is as a filmmaker. His dialogue has made me feel alive, and it has made me cringe. Again, it is a part of who he is as a filmmaker. Stop acting surprised. You don’t have to like, but stop complaining when it happens. You know what you’re getting into. He’s never been afraid of the inherent camp of his dialogue, and I admire that. 

He collaborates with cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom on a delicious visual feast here. There’s just so many shots in this thing that made me smile. Panning with Hartnett while he pans with his phone while recording – shot within a shot. Multiple shots of Hartnett only half in frame tell you everything about his character. I love every single split diopter shot I’ve ever seen so you bet I was hooting and hollering at the one in this film. A few shots featuring an old lady are really eerie and haunting. The intense closeups that Shyamalan has come to favor over the past decade are put to excellent use to highlight every little muscle movement in Hartnett’s face that’s essential to his delightful performance. One of them that’s lit bright satanic red is just awesome. The camera movements are mightily theatrical and dramatic but still feel grounded in how Mukdeeprom lights his 35mm shots. 

This movie is just such a damn blast. I cannot overstate how awesome Josh Hartnett is here. Shyamalan is having so much sicko fun here, the craft is just damn superlative. He even uses the classic “teapot whistling to heighten tension” trope in such a fun way, never letting the gimmick end when it normally does in most films. I just gotta mention that part. I was just grinning the whole way through this thing, giggling like an idiot. If you’re tuned out on Shyamalan, go with god, but again…you’re really missing out. Trap is one of the funnest times I’ve had at the movies this year, it is such a delight. I might go see it a third time! Come with me!