Trap (2024) OFFICIAL REVIEW by Orestis Maltezos

D I'm sorry Ry what was [Music] that [Music] your for the past 10 years ight yamalan has been going through a directorial period away from Big Hollywood projects with personal films of his own prod production and mostly self- financed trap is again such a film regardless of the distribution by Warner and the element of fantasy is completely absent belonging to the Thriller genre it is a very grounded Story full of Shaman's characteristics whose main aim is to create suspense and tension but it is something that it only succeeds to an extent the protagonist is a 40-year-old father named Cooper played by Jos Harnet who accompanies his 12-year-old daughter to a Sol out concert by Lady Raven and R&B Queen held in a huge Stadium there Cooper observes an excessively increased police guard and learns that the concert is actually part of a police operation to arrest the butcher a serial killer who has been wanted by the police for the past 10 years the clue that creates the plot is that Cooper is the Butcher and trapped inside the stadium as the concer unfolds he looks for ways to escape this is knowledge that the audience gains as the plot progresses any character development takes place organically through the actions of the moment because it's a movie that relies so much on the oneman show of its protagonist I want to address a feeling that I don't know if it's just me what's wrong with the performances in Shaman's movies why do very capable actors so often externalize their performance in in such a Cheesy way the most agous examples are hen Phoenix in signs and Mark wallberg in the happening and now Jos Harnet is joining the list throughout the film and in his quest to gain knowledge of the police operation Harnet takes on a number of guyses sometimes portraying a fast food restaurant kitchen worker a worker in charge of the police coffee supplies and of course the Carefree father in front of his daughter but the way he feces The Stranger for information is so alien and fake that I wonder how he can be believed we as viewers know that this is a very competent sociopath but it is inexplicable that all the other characters do not see this in charge of the police operation is an elderly behavior analyst played by Hal Mills an old Disney star in movies like poana and The Parent Trap I guess yamalan hired here because he probably thought it was funny that both movies have the world trap in the title I can't think of any other reason and it's only there to give a professional psychographic perspective around Cooper's character everything is presented very formally in the film shamalan also puts in a subtle dose of black humor that supposed to come from possible events that can happen but deviates from realism as he presents them on screen Hooper meets the mother of one of his daughter's classmates by chance two or three times the two girls are involved in a very unpleasant fight and the mother played by Marne mcfay gives an almost grotesque portrayal of a soccer mom it makes the movie interesting to watch because you find it quite strange the movie is doing well at the box office I think because it's a shamalan movie and that name still means something to the viewers what seems strange to me is shamalan signature touch that everyone can perceive differently but it's so clearly a shamalan movie which in this respect it does not disappoint blood twist is practically non-existent here the film changes the setting for its third Act and we are transported to Cooper's house where his wife played by the very likable Alison Pill enters the story and the film takes the form of a family drama the most essential thing I can say is that it is quite an an unpredictable film because it seems that there is a Creator script behind it that will take the plot where it wants even if it deviates far from the original perspective the soundtrack that is very important in this film is handled by Sha she is Shaman's daughter and a successful R&B singer in real life she plays lady Raven herself and her role is not only on stage it also has dramatic demands the songs she wrote for the movie are pretty cool the concert performance is the most beautiful and convincing part of the movie you get the scale of Lady Raven Celebrity Status she supposed to be something along the lines of Taylor's Rift and if that element wasn't successful the entire movie would collapse but in trying to keep the plot moving the way he wants it Shaman seems to ignore perhaps willfully a number of possibilities that the stadium venue affords him and towards the end where Cooper confronts his wife there are some lengthy dialogue scenes trying to give a psychological background to the characters we didn't need it in the entire movie I wonder why he puts it in the ending it's something that shalan often does in the endings of his movies to suddenly try to explain things he did it in Old to and it ruins all the logic that we had accepted until now the main Criterion for whether someone will have a good time watching the film is whether they know Shaman's tactics and like them if one doesn't like them better pass