Trap
Trap
A father and his teen daughter attend a pop concert only to realize they've entered the center of a dark and sinister event.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 1, 2025
Trap in its best moments is a tense and exhilarating cat and mouse game that reminded me a lot of Brian De Palma’s Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes opens with an incredibly cinematic and dynamic sequence that takes place at a boxing match, but loses much adrenaline once the fight is over and we leave the arena. Such is the case in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap. The concert portion of the film is beautifully shot, has Cooper (Josh Harnett) improvising several clever escape to avoid the cops closing in on him and even incorporates a De Palma signature split diopter shot. I was even impressed with Saleka’s music (as Lady Raven). Had never heard any of her music before, but I thought the songs had excellent melody, catchy hooks and found myself grooving along with Hartnett on a couple occasions. Nepo baby talk and/or shameless self-promotion aside, I still came away feeling like she has star quality, at least on the musical side. However, once we leave the concert setting, the cat and mouse dynamic really suffers. Each sides chess moves feel much less thought out along the way and the narrative become much more predictable, and lacking in tension. It doesn’t help that a lot of the dialogue is very stilted and unnatural. Harnett is great, and carries the majority of the film. I was disappointed we didn’t get more Hayley Mills. I don’t think she actually interacted with anyone in the film. I was almost more like a voiceover role for her, simply speaking lines over the police radio.
Still enjoyable but definitely enjoyed the first half of the film much more than the second half. Mild recommend.