‘Trap’ review – Dad you’re acting weird….

Dad you’re acting weird….

This statement is made several times in M Night Shyalaman’s latest thriller, Trap, and it’s a description hard to disagree with. The basic premise of the film is pretty simple: the main character, most likely a serial killer, is being relentlessly pursued by the Philadelphia police department (apparently all of them) via a massive trap designed to filter out all potential suspects, and he must use increasingly desperate ruses to evade capture.  Audience expectations of a stereotype are thwarted by having said central character played by the personable Josh Hartnett, at 6’2” unlikely to blend easily into a crowd, and especially one largely composed of pubescent girls, since most of the action takes place at a pop concert starring an Taylor Swift-style singer called Lady Raven.  He is accompanying his daughter, to whom he is merely, and increasingly creepily, a kind and indulgent dad. 

As a thriller the film is only partly successful, and those who remember the subtleties of The Sixth Sense wil be disappointed. The development is linear, with no surprises and a predictable outcome, despite a silly twist at the end. Although tension is created by the rising level of threat as the net closes in, it is simultaneously undermined by the strange gurning of Hartnett, apparently unsure how to combine a suggestion of menace and instability with carefree parental charm. He is much better in the one-note scenes later in the film, although by then the claustrophobic concert environment has been abandoned, to detrimental effect.  Excellent acting perfomances, in contrast, are provided by Ariel Donoghue as his daughter and Alison Pill as his wife, and a very catchy musical one by Saleka Shyamalan as the singer. Hayley Mills pops up as an unlikely FBI profiler whose presence is used simply in order to give an unnecessary character analysis in the style of Psycho.  But character motivationis definitely not a priority in the plot.

Overall, a watchable Friday-night film provided expectations aren’t too high and there’s plenty of popcorn.

Annette Weaver