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Trap (2024 film)

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Trap
Theatrical release poster
Directed byM. Night Shyamalan
Written byM. Night Shyamalan
Produced by
  • Ashwin Rajan
  • Marc Bienstock
  • M. Night Shyamalan
Starring
CinematographySayombhu Mukdeeprom
Edited byNoëmi Preiswerk
Music byHerdís Stefánsdóttir
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • July 24, 2024 (2024-07-24) (Alice Tully Hall)
  • August 2, 2024 (2024-08-02) (United States)
Running time
105 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Trap is a 2024 American psychological thriller film written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill. Its plot follows a serial killer evading a police blockade while attending a concert with his daughter. The film premiered in New York City on July 24, 2024, and is scheduled to be released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 2.

Plot

Cooper Adams takes his teenage daughter Riley to pop star Lady Raven's concert as a reward for her good grades and notices the unusually high police presence. He learns from friendly vendor Jamie that the FBI plans to catch a serial killer known as "the Butcher" at the venue, with knowledge that the Butcher is in attendance. Cooper is revealed to be the Butcher himself, secretly checking footage on his phone of his latest captive victim in a basement. Cooper swipes Jamie's ID card and learns the pass phrase that will identify him as an employee, using the card to gain access to a back room and steal a radio.

Hearing a woman predicting his movements over the radio, Cooper causes an explosion in a food stand's kitchen and uses the chaos to slip up to the roof, where he learns from an officer that she is Dr. Grant, an FBI profiler. Confused by Cooper's behavior, Riley asks him to stay with her. Riley talks about being Lady Raven's Dreamer Girl, who gets to dance on stage with Lady Raven and also gets backstage access, which Cooper believed had an exit not covered by police due to Jamie saying so. He then tells Lady Raven's uncle that Riley recently recovered from leukemia, getting her selected to be the dreamer girl. Backstage, he notices that Lady Raven's exit is guarded by police and reveals himself as the Butcher to her, threatening to remotely kill Spencer, the captive victim, in one of his vacant houses if she does not escort him and Riley out in her limousine. She complies, but asks to come to Riley's house.

There, Lady Raven stalls time by explaining the FBI operation to the family, unsettling Cooper by describing Grant's profile of him as someone with maternal issues. She also explains that the police found out about the Butcher's attendance at the concert due to finding a torn ticket receipt in an abandoned vacant house. She steals his phone and locks herself in the bathroom, where she gets details from Spencer about where he was taken and livestreams to her fans, finding one that lives near the house and getting her family to free him. She outs Cooper to his wife Rachel and he locks his family upstairs, while Lady Raven tells her driver to call the police before Cooper unlocks the door. He tries to drive off with her, but his family escapes and the sight of them upsets him, giving her time to slip away. The police arrive and Cooper escapes through a secret tunnel, disguising himself as a SWAT officer and hijacking Lady Raven's limo. She gets the attention of her fans as they drive through downtown, stalling Cooper long enough for the police to close in and her to escape. He dons civilian clothing and blends in with the crowd.

He returns to his house and confronts Rachel, who confesses that she suspected him as the Butcher and left the receipt in the vacant for the police to find. He decides to kill her and then himself, but she convinces him to finish the pie she made for Riley. He admits that he feels genuine hatred towards her for causing him to never see his children grow up. He realizes she drugged the pie with pills from his tool bag, causing him to hallucinate his mother expressing pride in him for feeling a real emotion, who in actuality was Dr. Grant acting as his mother. He walks towards her and is tased and apprehended by Grant and the waiting SWAT team. He stops to adjust Riley's bike as he is led away and shares a tearful embrace with her before being loaded into a police van. Having stolen a spoke from the bike wheel, he unlocks his handcuffs with it, chuckling gleefully to himself.

In a mid-credits scene, Jamie, watching the news, is stunned to learn that Cooper is the Butcher.

Cast

Josh Hartnett at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International in San Diego, California.
Josh Hartnett plays Cooper, a serial killer.

M. Night Shyamalan makes an appearance as Lady Raven's uncle.

Production

Development

M. Night Shyamalan at the 2016 WonderCon in Los Angeles, California.
Writer and director M. Night Shyamalan

In October 2022, Universal Pictures announced a then-untitled film from filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.[2] In February 2023, the film changed distributor when Shyamalan and his production company Blinding Edge Pictures entered a first-look deal with competing studio Warner Bros. Pictures; its title was revealed to be Trap.[3] The film sprouted from conversations Shyamalan had with his daughter, singer-songwriter Saleka, about combining the concert and theatrical experience and devising an album for a narrative, similar to how Prince wrote the titular album for the 1984 musical film Purple Rain.[4][5][6] Shyamalan initially planned to let another filmmaker write the script and direct the film from his original idea for a thriller set a concert, before changing his mind after realizing he could make the film with Saleka.[7]: 8:30 

The premise was inspired in part by Operation Flagship, a sting operation in which disguised law enforcement arrested 101 wanted fugitives at a convention center, having invited them under the pretence of gifting them free NFL tickets and an opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Super Bowl XX.[8] Shyamalan pitched Trap as setting The Silence of the Lambs (1991) at a Taylor Swift concert, in reference to her Eras Tour, and wrote the screenplay in five-and-a-half months, a personal record for him.[8][9] He produced the film with Marc Bienstock and Ashwin Rajan.[10]

Saleka stars as singer Lady Raven, whose concert the characters attend. As her father was writing the script, she composed fourteen songs for the film, designed diegetically to match the action onscreen.[11] Saleka previously collaborated with her father by making a single for the film Old (2021) and an EP for the series Servant.[4][12][13] Shyamalan was inspired to incorporate musical elements by Purple Rain and visiting Saleka on tour.[14][15] Saleka also noted Bollywood cinema, in which music often plays a key role in the storytelling, as an influence. She described Trap as a "Shyamalan American version of a Bollywood movie that is grounded and the songs make sense — not necessarily a musical, but completely music-centric."[4]

Josh Hartnett did not watch any media in preparation for the role of "Cooper" to make the character his own and researched psychopathy, including books about serial killers.[16][17]: 3:28  Shyamalan wrote Hayley Mills's investigator character as a "maternal figure" to contrast Cooper's lack of empathy.[18]: 16:28  Ariel Donoghue, who plays Cooper's daughter Riley, attended school in between filming.[19]: 7:09 

Filming

The film was shot at FirstOntario Centre.

As with his other projects, Shyamalan and a storyboard artist storyboarded the film and held extensive rehearsals with the actors.[20][21][22]: 14:38  Shyamalan originally intended to frame the film in a 4:3 aspect ratio, but after a discussion with cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, they agreed it limited their ability to shoot the movie and was "too much work" to create a feeling of claustrophobia. They changed it to a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and the film was re-storyboarded.[20]

Principal photography was scheduled to begin in Cincinnati, Ohio, in August 2023, where it would have received over $9 million in tax credits from the state to film there.[23][24] Production relocated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was granted an interim agreement on September 18, 2023, to film during the SAG-AFTRA strike.[25][26][27] Under the working title Good Grades, filming reportedly occurred from October 16 to December 8, 2023.[25][28] The film's pop concert venue, known as "Tanaka Arena", was filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, inside FirstOntario Centre, a 20,000-seat arena that the production obtained access to for two to three months because it was undergoing renovations.[29][30] Toronto's Rogers Centre stood in as the venue's exterior.[31]

Songs in the film were performed on stage as if it were a real concert, with extras having received the music beforehand to be able to sing along and a videographer recording onstage material and projecting it onto the stadium's screens in real-time.[12][32]: 4:02  Cora Kozaris was the choreographer.[4] The order of filming consisted of audience reactions, with music playing, followed by Saleka dancing and miming on stage, and then, after the extras went quiet, actors with dialogue, with a beat track in the background to help actors maintain rhythm. Hartnett and Donoghue screamed parts of their dialogue to match the intended noise levels of a concert.[18]: 15:24 [19]: 4:44  Trap was shot on 35mm film stock, a rarity for Shyamalan due to financial reasons. As a result, the crew had to wait three days for dailies to be processed and returned from a film laboratory in Los Angeles to review their footage.[20]

Post-production

Trap was released the same year as The Watchers, the directorial debut of Saleka's sister, Ishana Night Shyamalan; a poster for The Watchers appears in the background of a scene in Trap. Saleka and Ishana Shyamalan worked on their respective films on their family's property in Pennsylvania, with Saleka operating a recording studio while Ishana mixed her film next door.[33] The soundtrack album, "Lady Raven", features Kid Cudi (who stars in the film), Russ, and Amaarae, and will be released by Columbia Records.[4][34] Herdís Stefánsdóttir composed the score independently from Saleka.[35] Editing and mixing were completed on June 22, 2024.[36]

Release

Trap is scheduled to be released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 2, 2024. It is the second film of Shyamalan's to be distributed by the studio after Lady in the Water (2006), and marks the filmmaker's departure from Universal Pictures, which distributed five consecutive films of his, starting with The Visit in 2015.[37] Universal initially scheduled the film's release for April 5, 2024.[2] In 2023, Warner Bros. acquired and pushed the film to August 2, 2024.[38] In 2024, they postponed it to August 9,[39] and later brought it forward a week to August 2 again.[37]

The film premiered at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on July 24, 2024.[40][41] It did not screen for critics before its theatrical release.[42]

Reception

Box office projections

In the United States and Canada, Trap is scheduled to be released alongside Harold and the Purple Crayon and is projected to earn $15–25 million in its opening weekend.[42][43][44]

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 52% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[45] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[46]

References

  1. ^ "Trap (15)". BBFC. July 19, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  2. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 7, 2022). "New M. Night Shyamalan Thriller Dated By Universal For 2024". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  3. ^ Couch, Aaron (February 16, 2023). "M. Night Shyamalan Departs Universal for Warner Bros. First-Look Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Miller, Liz Shannon (June 7, 2024). "Saleka Explains Her Role as Lady Raven in M. Night Shyamalan's Trap, and Releases First Single". Consequence. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  5. ^ Philbrick, Jami (July 29, 2024). "Director M. Night Shyamalan Talks Trap and Working with Josh Hartnett". Moviefone. Archived from the original on July 29, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Perez, Rodrigo (July 31, 2024). "The Trap: M. Night Shyamalan Talks Empathy Shifts, Catching Josh Hartnett's 'Moment,' Potential Sequels & More [Interview]". The Playlist. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  7. ^ M. Night Shyamalan Interview: Trap Movie, Reinventing the Thriller, Family Talks, & Fan Interactions. The Movie Podcast. August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ a b Travis, Ben (July 1, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan Pitched Trap As 'Silence Of The Lambs At A Taylor Swift Concert' – Exclusive Image". Empire. Archived from the original on July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  9. ^ Shyamalan, M. Night [@MNightShyamalan] (July 16, 2024). "Fun fact: TRAP was the fastest script I have ever written. 5.5 months. SIGNS was the fastest before it. 6 months" (Tweet). Retrieved July 30, 2024 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Complex, Valerie; Grober, Matt (April 18, 2024). "Trap Trailer: Josh Hartnett Gets Cornered At A Concert In M. Night Shyamalan Thriller". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  11. ^ Ray, Jenelle (April 22, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan and Daughter Ishana Night Tease 'Unease' and 'Suspense' With Dual Thrillers Trap and The Watchers". Variety. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Rankin, Seija (July 31, 2024). "How Did Saleka Shyamalan Land a Lead Role in Trap? (It's Not Just That She Knew the Director)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  13. ^ El-Mahmoud, Sarah (April 18, 2024). "I Talked To M. Night Shyamalan About Setting A Horror Movie At A Pop Singer's Show, And As A Frequent Concertgoer, I'm Intrigued". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  14. ^ Taylor, Drew (April 18, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan Explains Why His Trap Trailer Seemingly Gives Away the Film's Twist". TheWrap. Archived from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  15. ^ Garner, Glenn (June 8, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan's Daughters Discuss 'Privilege' Of Following Their Own Passions Amid Big Screen Debuts With Dad". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  16. ^ Kaplan, Ilana (July 31, 2024). "Josh Hartnett on Playing a Serial Killer in Trap and the Legacy of Trip Fontaine in The Virgin Suicides". IndieWire. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  17. ^ Josh Hartnett talks 'twisted' new thriller Trap. Toronto Sun. July 26, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ a b Hamman, Cody (August 1, 2024). "Trap interviews: Josh Hartnett, M. Night Shyamalan, and Saleka Shyamalan on their serial killer thriller". JoBlo.com. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Josh Hartnett on Becoming Cooper in Trap. Rotten Tomatoes. July 30, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ a b c Newman, Nick (July 29, 2024). "For M. Night Shyamalan, Trap Might Be His A Man Escaped". IndieWire. Archived from the original on July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  21. ^ Elliott, Debbie (July 28, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie is a collaboration with his daughter". NPR. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  22. ^ How Trap Has You Rooting For A Killer! Trap Cast Interview! Josh Hartnett, M. Night Shyamalan. Comicbook.com. August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via YouTube.
  23. ^ "State of Ohio Awards $36 Million in Motion Picture Tax Credits". Ohio Department of Development. July 31, 2023. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  24. ^ Rajput, Priyanca (September 5, 2023). "Ishana Shyamalan's debut feature The Watchers wraps in Dublin". KFTV.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  25. ^ a b "Josh Hartnett and Saleka to Star in M. Night Shyamalan's Latest Film (Exclusive)". Film Updates. October 26, 2023. Archived from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  26. ^ Landau, Jack (April 18, 2024). "Major movie shot largely at Toronto's Rogers Centre described as 'bizarre' by star". blogTO. Archived from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  27. ^ "Productions Approved and Signed to Interim Agreements – Members May Work on These" (PDF). SAG-AFTRA. December 3, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  28. ^ "Current Productions - Toronto". Toronto Film and Television Office. August 7, 2017. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  29. ^ Radish, Christina (April 18, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan Promises Wild Surprises for His Josh Hartnett Concert Thriller Trap". Collider. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  30. ^ Lussier, Germain (July 30, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan Talks Trap's Surprising Superhero Inspirations". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  31. ^ Landau, Jack (April 18, 2024). "A new major movie was just filmed at Blue Jays' Rogers Centre". Daily Hive. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  32. ^ M Night Shyamalan Gives Us A Backstage Look at Trap. The Backstage Experience. July 29, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via YouTube.
  33. ^ Zuckerman, Esther (June 5, 2024). "The Shyamalans: A Family That Scares Together". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 5, 2024. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  34. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (July 23, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan's Daughter and Trap Star Saleka Debuts 'Save Me', a New Song From the Film". Variety. Archived from the original on July 19, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  35. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (July 23, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan's Daughter and Trap Star Saleka Debuts 'Save Me', a New Song From the Film". Variety. Archived from the original on July 19, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  36. ^ Shyamalan, M. Night [@MNightShyamalan] (June 23, 2024). "Finished editing and mixing #Trapmovie yesterday. Such a joyful experience" (Tweet). Retrieved July 30, 2024 – via Twitter.
  37. ^ a b Grobar, Matt (June 13, 2024). "Warner Bros Pushes Up Release Date For Trap, Dates Four Other Projects". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  38. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 16, 2023). "M. Night Shyamalan Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal at Warner Bros, Sets Trap At Studio". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  39. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 8, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan's Trap To Spring On New Release Date – CinemaCon". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  40. ^ "Trap World Premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York". UPI. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  41. ^ Speakman, Kimberlee; Flam, Charna (July 25, 2024). "M. Night Shyamalan Says Daughter Saleka Was Treated 'the Same' on Trap Set as Rest of Cast (Exclusive)". People. Archived from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  42. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 31, 2024). "Deadpool & Wolverine To Best Passion Of The Christ As Highest Grossing U.S. R-Rated Movie Ever; Trap To Lock $15M-$20M; Harold And The Purple Crayon Light – Box Office Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  43. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (July 31, 2024). "Box Office: M. Night Shyamalan's Trap Targets $15 Million Debut, Deadpool & Wolverine to Dominate Again". Variety. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  44. ^ "Weekend Preview: Deadpool & Wolverine Holds to Top Spot as Trap Battles for Second Place". Boxoffice Pro. July 31, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  45. ^ "Trap". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 2, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  46. ^ "Trap". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
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