Trap (2024) | WiG: Gut Reaction #100

oh Aloha you've caught me in the bathroom it's that time of the day I'm just here to stare creepily into the camera I'm the Salah hartnet Josh hartnett's weird nephew lots of creepy looks in the movie trap G [Music] reaction Aloha nerds and welcome back to the salog wife great gut reaction where I watch things and react from the gut are you having a good time I'm sorry after watching two hours of Josh haret making creepy faces he's just like so I came back from watching uh M Night shyan's latest film trap and I I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end I wouldn't put it uh as high and mighty a split but I don't think he was going for that I think he was trying to make a fun Thriller and I and I absolutely feel like it was um uh but you know what I think most of you were like are probably like me you've only seen the trailer uh so to be as spoiler-free as I possibly can let me take you back to seeing the trailer and I I swear I remember the first teaser trailer for this movie you just have Josh hartnet loving father bringing his daughter to a uh to a popular singer uh concert and then all of a sudden these police are showing up and he's like what's going on uh and one of the merchandisers tells him well the copster setting a trap because some horri some terrible serial killer is supposed to be here at this concert and I swear that first teaser really makes you believe or really makes it look like the movie is about Josh hartnet trying not to get caught up or kind of getting close to being in danger from whoever the serial killer may be and I almost wish that's all that I saw was that first trailer uh because then I saw the next trailer I didn't even watch it all the way through or I might have watched it all the way through but I I didn't want to pay attention because the very next trailer shows the exact same setup but then all of a sudden Josh hartnet just starts making a creepy smile and I was just like are you the killer you know what I mean I'm like oh [ __ ] no no more trailer no more trailer save it for the [ __ ] movie what the [ __ ] you know and I honestly actually though with just that I was was enormously I was interested in this film way more you know right away but then I thought maybe the trailer was doing what trailers usually do which is just throw everything into the trailer to make you interested in the film and you know I was like oh man I don't want to cuz i' had already pictured in my head that this is like a almost a heartwarming movie about a father trying to make sure his daughter doesn't get caught up with some kind kind of serial killer uh which is what I thought the movie was going to be and then this other trailer sort of tells you something that I felt oh is this going to be like a a reveal Midway through the movie you know I had all these things in my head for what I thought the movie would be and what I can say confidently is like when the movie starts it tells you very quickly what's going on so without spoiling anything if you don't know anything about the movie trap and all that I've said you know if any of that makes it interesting to you or if all you've seen as those first two trailers that's good go into the movie Just with that you know what I mean and I'm really happy that you know i' even seen some more ads that show more gags and more situations where it's actually very clear that Josh hartnet is the serial killer that the cops are looking for and I'm like what why you why are you showing me why why um but what happens that is so beautiful is when the movie starts it just gets right to everything that you want to know right away not right away but like very quickly and the trailer only gives you basically the first half it feels like it's the majority of the movie but actually I believe it's just the first half of the movie The Trailer only sets up that much so you only know that the cops are trying to catch a serial killer and it's most likely Josh hartnet you know what I mean it's it's probably him you you don't want it to be him because it's like how how is this movie supposed to work if we already know the twist I don't understand how is this movie supposed to work um and that's actually the fun thing about the movie is that uh when you get into it and everything's going on you know what I got to say is that this is absolutely a great performance from Josh hartnet I think it's overall very good writing and directing from M night shamalan he totally brings it his daughter sea I hope I'm saying that right she's an actual pop artist and I I don't know if these are her songs but definitely uh if that's her voice if that's her playing the piano there's there's a part in the in the concert where she's playing piano and uh and you know I wasn't even expecting her to actually have some scenes in the movie that are very good uh they're a little at the back end but all things being the same I I thought Oh I thought this whole movie was going to be what the trailers show uh and so I was pleasantly surprised at the twist and turns and apparently uh there is One reviewer I follow uh on Instagram she did not like the stuff that once we got past the trailer she wasn't so into it felt like it kind of became a schlog and uh was less interesting uh but for me and I'll talk talk about this more in the spoiler section but for me because of certain things that I was watching on YouTube as as sort of homework for a project I'm working on uh when I started watching this and you start seeing how Josh hartnett's character Cooper uh maneuver Maneuvers and operates and the things and how he interacts with people I was like oh my God it's like he's watching the same podcast it's like he do he's doing the same homework but for a completely nefarious reason you know and I was just like what what and so internally I was just I was laughing because every single scene he does a different thing that this podcast discusses and I was like or or does the same thing but in for a different reason and I was just like God this dude's a master what's up what the hell he's he's completely studied the same thing but he's really put it into action on a superb level like wow but really it's like you're seeing Josh hartnet deal with a duality you know it's almost a a dual personality but not literal split personality no pun intended or was there um and there are some connections and parallels to the movie Split but it's not it's not a split personality and it's not anything Supernatural um which is actually what makes it even more interesting because it's just so the movie is just so straightforward once it starts and Josh hartnett's trying to figure out what's what the cops are up to and how much they know and he's and he's walking around and looking at things and you're like holy [ __ ] I'm in it we're in it we're in this adventure we're in this ride um and you know concert footage is not too bad I got to say it's kind of cool and uh but you know it's it's like the part of the fun is also that you're watching Josh hartnet try to be this really good loving dad bouncing back and forth between his little his little side quest you know what I mean and that's part of the fun of watching you know the parts of the movie that the trailer shows you know what I mean I'm like oh wow this is such a weird interesting experience I like it um and then once the movie turns and the trailer footage stops it's like oh and for me the tension both ratchets up but at the same time I feel like I've jumped off a cliff and there's no more ground anymore because very much the first half of this movie or what feels like it's more than a half it feels like its own whole movie but the everything that you see involving the stadium and the concert I mean it's it's really tight and it's very very energetic and you know it's also just so relatable and then when you get into the twist it's not that it's unrelatable it's just like you just don't expect the movie to go in that direction and then it keeps kind of going in a direction uh and not that these are things that horror movies haven't done it's just not usually in this order or this way I was just like oh okay you're going that way oh okay well you're going that way but because for me I was just so entertained by the fact that this guy was doing all these things that again related to my podcast homework I was it was no surprise to me you know and some of the the differences of the second half or or what feels more like just a really long third last third cuz the the you know everything that's in the trailer feels like one whole like at least an hour to hour 10 minute most of a movie but you know once things shift and and we go in a different direction um I've had so much fun thinking about who this guy is and and how his he's clearly done the same homework or at least has a personality akin to what I was studying and and I'll say this it wasn't serial killers uh I tried that and I couldn't not keep doing it but yeah it was just so much fun uh for me and to then to see how he carries it on once we get to the footage that we're unfamiliar with was just fun it was just a ball I really had a great time uh because I felt like I was on the inside of some kind of joke that even I wasn't entirely sure if I was inside the joke or not uh but so as spoiler-free as I can get this is a thriller kind of from the inside out where you you do know who the Killer is but you're kind of just seeing his side of the story it's it's it's split on its head you know what I mean you you're not seeing the victim at least not right away uh well I don't know but you know you're not seeing the victim and seeing it entirely from the victim's point of view you're seeing it from the Killer's point of view and it's such a ride kind of being on his side and kind of not being on his side the entire time uh and yeah just under those terms I would say I liked it I thought it was fun from beginning to end and I do think of it as fun uh because I I do feel like split and I've already done a review of that but I do feel like split is is a genuine work of art it's a genuine piece of expression and trying to deal with some serious things that people do go through in as entertaining as a movie can possibly be that's a horror movie um and it's just the finale of split is just an emotional I'd say not a heartbreaker but a heart fixer you know what I mean it's just such a such an amazing ending I really love split but where that I feel like is high art in many ways I'd say this is more just fun I I just watch this to have a good time um try to leave your expectations at the door because they don't matter the film doesn't care about your expectations it's not even about subverting expectations it's just about what it takes for this guy to do what he needs to do and and how far it goes and I just think it's a great ride so a spoiler free as I can possibly get again I really like Josh har hartnett's performance I I grew up with him as the teen heartthrob from the faculty and uh jez I forgot what this movie was called it was like it was a movie where he was part of a love triangle with the uh there was a girl and she's also in love with another guy and uh but again he was being like the he was the cooler guy you know what I mean and to sort of see him for so many years play the cool guy uh and then slowly like with 30 Days of Night seeing him play a more of a straightforward character and now see the complete opposite he's playing someone who seems unhinged but also isn't you know what I mean I can't really describe it without spoiling the movie but I just really loved what he was doing and I was like this dude could play The Joker he could play Batman I can tell this guy has he running on a theme of of things I've recorded that are not out yet um I'm seeing a a range of what this actor is capable of that I had not seen before and I was just pleasantly surprised about that so that's what I can say that's spoiler-free because I really just want you to go into this movie with your mind blank you know go go into it with no expectations just go into it follow the ride from beginning to end and and then let me know what you thought and uh that being said I'm going to now get into the spoiler section so if you don't want spoilers watch no further go see the movie make up your own mind and then we can talk about it in the comments so aloha spoilers now [Music] damn this movie was cool um I had a lot of fun uh okay so now I'll tell you what I was doing I was doing this uh there's this podcast called the everyday spy podcast uh by Andrew Bustamante and his wife and I just sort of stumbled upon it on YouTube but it happened to be around the time uh I had met up with this actress friend of mine and we were both she's been working on a lot of cool stuff she's also a producer um and I was just we we just hadn't seen each other in like eight years and now that I'm in the area I was just like hey let's let's hang out let's talk and I had told her this idea I had for a film that I had with her in mind being in that movie as a pretty important character and there was a spy movie so just just out of some miraculous coincidence after that conversation I guess the phone was listening to me thank you algorithm but anyway so I've been watching these spy podcasts and I uh and all these different things that Andrew bamon talks about for how a spy is supposed to essentially infiltrate organ organizations or uh game gain access to you know high-profile people or people with specific access and and the way they do it is through person personability by being able to be uh to connect and bond with a person uh as quickly as humanly possible so as to get whatever information they need and potentially manipulate that person in a certain direction uh whatever it is whatever it takes to essentially give the United States the upper hand because he was this he this former CIA guy he just talks about these different tips but he talks about them as a way to apply to regular life so that regular people can have a better Advantage at the difficulties of the real world uh and and it really appealed to me when he talked about how he and his wife left because the CIA didn't really care that they had a family and wanted to be you know wanted to have a functional family uh and they were like okay well then we'll just quit and then he talked about going into the real world and having a crummy job and trying to do things the the the right way and he realized why am I doing this I have the skill set to put myself anywhere I want so why don't I just do that go use my skills to get a really good job and work my way up in this world uh in a far superior way and he did that and then ended up realizing wait why am I doing this working for other people I I I should just make my own business and so that's where everyday spy podcast became but then so I started watching that as my homework and because my friend was like well write something down so I can see what you're talking about and so I'm like oh okay so as I'm writing it I'm also watching these podcasts and so much of it is about that personability getting to know someone getting into their circle of trust getting them to do things that may be against their own interests even if they're not aware of it or especially if they're not aware of it that's the whole job of being a spy and so watching Josh hartnet literally be so personable and so relatable that he just suckers every single person into liking him and loving him and thinking he's so great uh and and yet you he does seem slightly off you know what I mean it does seem like just a little too jazzed to be in the conversation with you but it's just enough that you could see if the person is off guard it seems like genuine Behavior Uh and I think one of the best you know first he talks to the merch and offers to you know the merch runs out of shirts he was trying to buy his daughter a shirt and first he that guy runs out of shirts and so he says come back in 10 minutes I'll have one for you and he comes back in 10 minutes guy does not have them he like well I got to go get the box it's it's just downstairs but I have to go get it he's like I'll walk with you and so these things that just seem natural it seem normal it seem trustworthy uh and yet they are actually manipulations and I just thought that was the was doing every single thing that Andrew bamon talked about but on this like ridiculously like professional grade level um and then you just see how it works but also at the same time I realize these are things that people do do in the real world that do Bond people so it it's it's not that these are things that people don't already do people do do the people do offer to help or help someone out like the one of his best tricks is a girl is Falls over and he catches her and uses this as an opportunity to go further behind the uh backstage where there is a little medical area for people who might fall over a collapse because you know they they're dehydrated from you know days of being excited for this concert or being at the the concert and they there's a little medical area and that's just one of his best gags and he's and he's in there and he's just totally acting like a good guy looking out for and and everyone's like ah he's such a gem what a wonderful guy you know and then that's how he comes off to every everything he does seems like a genuine behavior for someone else all the while his real motivation is just to get closer and closer to an exit you know what I mean just such a it's such a brilliant fun experience watching this guy toy with people um and I I I what I really enjoyed was that you could also see even though he's manipulating people there were so many great moments where every time he did it for his daughter even though he was doing it for himself when he would get his daughter the shirt and and then when he lied to M might shy Milan's best Cameo this is my favorite ight Shyamalan Cameo uh because he played such serious intense roles for his little for his little cameos back in the day and and and now in retrospect I think oh that's what you you wish you could be a great serious actor don't you ni shami but uh uh here in this this movie he's just oh I I'm just the star the the performer's uncle I mean I work I work for the her group but yeah I'm just her uncle so yeah okay hi how's it going just watching him be just such a normal relatable uh the uncle you know I was like oh wow and actually he was great I think he was also the most natural of all of his performances uh you know I just thought wow that's that was great but you know when joshh Harnet lies to him and says oh you see that girl over there that's my daughter and she just survived a battle with leukemia can you believe it she literally just thought I'm cursed and my life is horrible and now she survived and I'm so happy she's here you know what I mean it's just such a manipulative Ploy but people have done things like this this is not a totally unbelievable scenario people have totally lied and [ __ ] to get jobs to get opportunities like this people have totally done these things uh and it's worked for them and obviously spies do it all the time but this I just thought wow like he does approach every single one of these scenarios differently based on his objective and his need or whatever you know what I mean but it's it's just amazing like what lies he will come up with so quickly so naturally and but you just I you can feel the persuasion in his voice he's not asking for anything but he is asking for something you know what I mean he or or but he is hoping for an outcome uh you just the the the manipulation was just just eeking out of them and I I just really enjoyed that whole uh and not I mean not even just that but how he just will swipe the merchandiser who given him the shirt I'll walk with you how he just will swipe his uh employee card and how he'll he'll swipe a police officer's walkie-talkie you know what I mean he'll just swipe and I just get this distinct feeling of um Ethan Hunt of Tom Cruz in all of the mission Impossibles whenever he does like a quick swipe or whenever he does a manipulation to get somewhere but this was just like such top level not obvious film spy crap but like really you know if you were to plausibly do it on any level this this looks plausible enough even though it's also ridiculous you know it's very you think one cop would have seen him swipe the walkie but whatever you know whatever they didn't and that's what keeps the entertainment going is that this that's the whole idea that this guy's just so good at what he does he's like his own spy and uh you know there's a beautiful thing I was watching this podcast uh I'll put the link to it because I still can't remember the name but I was watching this podcast uh very very good podcast the host were actually interviewing M might shy Milan I just couldn't help it I was just I you know he he is one of my favorite filmmakers he's definitely a master that I learn from even if I don't study him quite as deeply as I might study Del Toro or Nolan but you know shyan's totally a huge influence on me and and and I I do believe he's one of the Masters that we're fortunate enough to watch the work of in our time uh but I was watching this interview and he talks about the difference between Josh hartnet Cooper and his daughter who plays the pop star that they're all there to see and she talks about how really this movie is a battle of ideologies where Cooper compartmentalizes everything about himself to the point where he has these distinct lives and you're seeing him Duke out the both lives because he's trapped by all these police officers in this building so he's literally trying to balance both lives without them touching uh during this concert but his superpower as far as he's concerned is his compartmentalization whereas during the concert and I think it's a very nice scene and I knew as a filmmaker uh and just regular audience lover of movies I knew uh this particular scene that Cela has as lady Raven she's the she's I think it's about the middle of the concert and she reveals that her father abandoned her at the young age of four or seven or something like that and that she basically forgave him and let it go and she asked for everyone to put on the lights of their cell phone to prove that they too can let go of someone else hurting them uh and just live their life and it's in the moment I was like oh that's actually that's pretty powerful that you're willing to open up to this entire group of strangers even though they are fans they're willing you're willing to open up like that but it's also the kind of cheesiness of watching everyone's cell phone go up with the light but again symbolism of the light we have some carryovers from split um but but you know the whole symbolism is that it just it's representing moving forward with yourself and not being trapped by your past and Josh hartnet has these very clear visions of his mother and this is another carryover from split but he's apparently was punished a lot as a kid but it sounds more like it's the have split like he was actually a bad kid uh and he knew it that it was his natural compulsion to be this way that's kind of the indication anyway but I really loved what M Knight said I was just like oh that explains so much because I don't feel like lady Raven is the hero of the story until that wonderful split Happ happens when all of a sudden he's got his daughter up on again talking to Uncle he's got his daughter up on the stage uh by sweet talking the uncle slash spotter who's supposed to pick this the the dream girl or destiny girl who's supposed to go up on the stage and dance with Lady Raven for one particular song and it's already set up that the the daughter uh great actress by the way it's already set up that she knows the dance moves when they come into the stadium and there's these other girls with Lady Raven wigs on doing the dance and then she can perfectly sync up with them uh and and it's this very kind of astute shot where all of a sudden Josh hartnet who's filming them because it's so adorable and sweet goes up and looks at the video of It's a music video playing of Lady Raven and the and it's the exact same choreography he astutely goes up looks at that and then goes right back down and to see to just to show that wow they're they're literally doing the exact moves exactly um but at the same time if you're just paying attention he's been looking at the cameras every single camera that's inside the stadium since he walked through the door he's he's already clocking the place like Jason Bourne as he's supposed to based on his own mission again but again you see there's another moment there's these little moments where he goes from my plan is working to my daughter's having a fantastic time I'm kind of enjoying this too you know what I mean you know like he doesn't get the music Here's the thing about getting older you know what I mean uh once One Direction came out I knew that I was completely out of the mainstream at all you know what I mean I was like what One Direction and all these other bands and when I would get on the bus and hear kids sing these songs that I thought were atrocious songs I'm like how do you like this song this is terrible this is not music what I grew up with as music you know what I mean and I've had a similar thing where where my dad heard some popular song that I liked a lot in high school and he was driving me around if it's to school from school and that same song came on the radio I was like what the [ __ ] is this how is this music that's not music you know what I mean I was like I wasn't so much offended I was just like wow how does he not understand and appreciate how good this is um but then yeah One Direction comes out and now I'm in the same boat I'm like this isn't music what the [ __ ] is this [ __ ] and then so it's wonderful having the age and experience to see that in Josh hartnett's face of like I don't get why you like this but I'm your dad and I'm here to let you have it you know what I mean but for to watch him go from that which is at the beginning of the movie to by the time he's got his daughter on stage really because he wants that backstage access to get out of the stadium is scot-free um the moment that that same moment is when he's just sort of huh my daughter's doing great out there and she loves this it was just I think there was like two to three signature moments where he was glad that he' done the right Dad thing of supporting his daughter and getting her that thing that she wanted and making it a special occasion for her even though a lot of these things were just happening so he could manipulate his way out of the building you know it was just to see that little I wouldn't say it's necessarily conflict but it is in some ways a conflict you know he's he's not conflicted so much as he's having dual feelings that are overlapping each other and he's not quite reconciling them it's just kind of this is a feeling I'm going through uh but he still kind of sticks to his compartmentalization but speaking of the the Battle of ideologies you know Cela lady Raven she opens up herself to her fans she she's an open person who's willing to be vulnerable and share her art and share herself and Josh hartnet is someone who believes in the opposite he believes in this compartmentalization of himself being separate from other people being better gaming them um and essentially lady Raven wins this game you know what I mean but but not fully because there's just almost two evenly match we have this sensitive theer versus this psycho he is is a pretend person in many ways uh but he's a pretend person who's what I like again in this interview is that ight says that today is the day that Cooper realizes he enjoys being a dad that he really likes being a dad to his daughter um and I I feel it and I see it I mean it's kind of apparent right in the opening scene when they're driving to the concert I mean he has no idea what's coming so he's just kind of being a cute sweet dad like oh wait I got to tie my shoe just to just to sort of tease her and have his fun um but again like I see that in his performance that there are these moments where it's almost as if he wishes he didn't have to hide anything you know it's like man if I didn't if I wasn't trying to get out of here I I'm just glad that I'm seeing my daughter have this wonderful moment moment because he really you know he gets her the classic t-shirt he gets her uh on the stage you know what I mean and he even gets her a limo ride with her favorite star and gets her to go to well it ends up being lady Raven's idea but I just I love that twist where he his only card to play uh because it's revealed to him lady Raven is the only one who gets out of here without anyone asking questions it's her and her team they're the only ones who get out of here guess I guess she's kind of one of the primary players in this plot um but I just I loved all that Duality and really lady Raven becomes she's the way I see it now with M Night shamalan interviews the first half of the movie when they're in the stadium and it's a concert she's indirectly the hero she is the one that the daughter looks up to with idolization and wants to be like even though she loves her father but when it comes to the house when they finally get to the house and it's lady Raven doing whatever she can you and I love that scene when it's the only card that Josh Harnet can play is uh I know you know about my daughter's condition can we talk can we talk alone and I love that scene when he reveals himself it's so expected I did not think he was just going to reveal himself and lay down his his his cards like that um but that's what gives him the edge that's what you know he reveals like hey I got a guy locked up right now uh and if we don't get out of here in the next five minutes he is going to die uh because I have this thing said in the timer that if I'm not there if I can't turn it off a gas is going to kill him and to to to give her this perfect stalemate that forces her to take them out and yet at the same time she has this enormous Instinct with they her like I can't let this guy go I have to do whatever I can to make sure that he does not get away you know what I mean that's when she becomes a direct hero the minute she says can I would love to visit your home you seem so nice you know what I mean and now she's she's doing the same thing in Reverse you know what I mean it kind of the only thing I could compare this movie too is like scream but I feel like it's scream from the Killer's perspective you know what I mean then the The Killers know that they're Sinister and bad but on on some primary Primal level they just cannot not be who they are that's essentially Josh hartnet in a nutshell in this movie he cannot not be who he is and it really uh hit me hard when they got to the home and uh I mean at first I just thought this is so bizarre why are we at the home we don't know any of these people uh okay we're just we're going along with it and I I really dig how when when she gets in there there's a piano and Lady Raven uses that as a a way to uh get the cell phones and all that stuff I love I love the reverse manipulations I thought I was like oh that's so clever that's so good uh and even when they get in the car and she starts trying to psychologically pretend to be his mom so that she can mess with him and it does not work you know I'm like it's not going to work on this guy but you do see he is still kind of affected by the words she says and I don't know it's just it's I I love this little sort of weird it's not cat and mouse it's it's literally more like chess okay you moved all your people here well I'm going to make this move oh you made that move so I'm going to make this move and you know essentially you're in stalemate uh but damn I just can't had such a great time I just had such a great time watching this flick you know I really again I love Josh Harton's performance it really I really thought he could be the Joker or Batman whatever he wanted to be I was like you can do anything you you've got fantastic range and uh and and you know the daughter was fantastic uh when we get to the family the actress who plays the wife I've seen her in a few movies uh she was fantastic I wow this movie I think I'm getting doy I think I'm dozing off this movie Just does a great job of and and Sela scenes I was like oh good job daughter of mni shyan she's not a bad actress herself I uh I I might have done another take here or there but at the same time I'm like damn like I think literally on the whole she did a great job with all of her scenes um I do think it's just I can't remember even what scene it was but it's there is one point where I thought this is too much dialogue cut it out you know what I mean let her just be there you know and then that's what they did uh but I loved trap I thought uh I had just I just had a great time I don't see it on the same caliber split I don't see it as as some Mega High Caliber movie but I do I do think of it as a really fun movie made by a very high caliber Talent MN shalan and I I I I love to I I love his deeper meanings behind the movie because it really just makes the movie choices make even more sense to me and feel the power of of their their strength that that that totally works I I'm blown away I'm really Blown Away by everything uh but it was just again it's not as good as split because split I think is Art but I say this was really fun art this was just a good time uh you can read it down to the depths that it has or you can read it just on a surface level and still enjoy it uh but I really yeah I can't get over Josh harnett's creepy smile you know what I mean it's just ah you know it was just so creepy um but yeah I had a wonderful time with this film uh I do want to say there are some parallels of split and trap where both Dennis the primary Prim one of the primary personalities of split and Cooper from Trap both of them have an OCD and OCD is uh I guess in the at least in the case of these movies a considered a symptom of stress or some kind of stress disorder that uh they have to correct things they they just have to make things make things right uh so yeah and I also want to say in addition to that connection I do feel like we all have a dark side to ourselves you know what I mean I've I've been working on mine uh and and I've had the fortune of some really good friends who listened to me when I was having some bad times and help me through those dark things things and to that end that vulnerability me willing to tell my story but also the compassion of having a friend willing to listen that in itself was help to move on from the past pains that made me suffer and that's one of the kind of themes and thematic conversation points that when lady Raven you know is talking to Cooper and he's about to kidnap her killer she uses this kind of psychological manipulation acting as if she's his mom which is a recommendation from this psychologist who's leading the FBI and the police in this trap and I just thought wow she's trying to kind of force him to have some kind of closure or have some recognition of his choice his ability to choose what he's doing and I yeah I just thought that that was really powerful I thought it's it's beautiful that the movie tries to have just a little bit of compassion for what seems to be a very not a character who you can't really have compassion for uh I mean he he blows up a girl in the face with you know cooking oil it's like horrible uh there there's horrible this guy does horrible things he had to be taken down uh but I I just like stuff like that where in a way it's just it's it's not trying to just make yes Cooper is totally the villain but he's not a villain without Dimension you know I think it's important that even characters are kind of two-dimensional try to find a third dimension if you can and I like that this guy was kind of all Dimension but he just couldn't he compartmentalized so much he couldn't even recognize his other dimensions but the fact that he loved seeing his daughter happy and realized and I and I like that's what m might said said it's like you have perfectly protected your double life until today and not only that you know today is the day you realize you love being a dad and that's kind of the tragic underst story because you feel it but it's not stated with words uh so yeah I just I I was really hit on the right side the correct side I was really struck by this movie with how fun it was and just talking about it now it does have a lot more depth than I thought it did and then I remember and even though things change it doesn't really bother me I think I to me the movie experience was still so bizarre I did not think I've in my head I thought this is going to be a half an hour to 45 minutes of is he a killer or is he not and then then someone's going to die and it's like well now he shaved his mustache so he doesn't look the same you know what I mean it's just like I love I love the straightforwardness of this film and and I love to have learned that this is an ideological battle it makes so much more sense between the the popular star who is vulnerable and and the relative nobody who is quite Sinister and yeah I just thought what a what a well done picture I I I love watching him night shamalan movies this is my second one I've seen in theaters the first one I saw was old which got old very quickly no pun intended uh but it was fine you know what I mean but this movie was a was really good it's like kind of a turn to Forum so right on right on to the filmmakers right on to everyone I'm getting really tired right now if you can't tell I'm kind of dozing off and losing my track but I just I really had a had a good time again I'm not putting this up there with split in terms of quality but I will put this up there with you know I don't know I don't know who to put it with but i' say trap is just a really good Thriller from beginning to end and uh and I'd love to know your thoughts what was your what was your favorite uh scene in the movie uh in particular if it had to do with Cooper manipulating someone or being essentially on his other side of himself what was your favorite scene that you saw uh very curious about that uh should we keep the red on Deadpool let me know about that too now not related but yeah let me know what you thought what was your favorite scene did you like when things turned and I got to say shout out to seela I do think she did a really good performance um you know I I think she's she's got the stuff and and you know M might Shaman's other daughter directed The Watchers which I wasn't in love with I did think it needs some work but all that being said I still think its overall Vision was very clear like I was just like I can see the talent and the vision of this person pretty clearly with what's with what they're presenting it's pretty awesome so that being said that's my review of trap before I knock out uh I I really like this movie and it was nice seeing Josh hartnet in a really good juicy villain role so thank you very much uh there is a post credit scene involving the merchandiser I thought he was great I really hope he pops up in more movies movies and [Music] shows and I do want to add to this review uh I had had recorded most of this review actually this is technically the third time I've recorded it uh but I just I I really wanted to get this review as right as possible and you might have noticed in the last clip that I was starting to pass out a little bit uh but I just had more time to think about this movie and since we're in the spoiler section anyway I just want to address that the whole split nature no pun intended the split nature of this movie where we are spending the majority of it or what feels like the majority of it in the stadium the concert and then all of a sudden it seems like there's a whole other movie where we're now in the house and we're in the family drama and we're in this guy's life and it's uh and it feels like almost almost too much too fast but I feel like uh with everything in mind with what M might shamalan was saying his interview and again the link will be below to the the podcast where he's interviewed so you can get his perspective and see where I'm coming from with mine uh when em might talked about the whole structure of the movie when ight talked about the whole thematic Battle of the movie movie being between these two ideologies the the star who is actually on stage being very open about some a childhood pain that made her the way she was and that with her she made a choice as a kid I am you know not going to let this Darkness get me I'm going to look for the light and that led her to becoming this artist and expressing herself and you see her her songs I mean I don't really pay attention to the lyrics inside the concert but when we get to the song that she plays in the house for the family I was paying attention to the lyrics and they were about basically the subjects that that are in this movie that this whole idea of this dual life or this hidden pain that's causing all this influence in one's life and uh and I really like that song I really liked her performance there uh and because I was not expecting this turn you know what I mean uh I I wasn't expecting Sea's character lady Raven to have this whole part in the movie where she's actually very significant to the movie what I think is beautiful is that since once it once we come to this place once we come to the house and we're seeing it from her perspective now our perspectives have changed right and then you kind of realize well she's she's actually if if this whole movie is an ideological battle and we're actually seeing the star the hero from far away and then getting closer to her at the end and that's when she makes her her heroic choices right and when you look at it from that lens this how I kind of felt about the movie afterward and definitely after em night's interview was that this movie is basically scream in Reverse where if you watch Scream from Sydney's if you watch the first scream film you're really seeing it from the victim's point of view and from Sydney's point of view uh Nev Campbell uh where these murders are happening you don't know why or who but they just seem to be getting closer to you and more personal toward to your life and it's the exact same thing with this movie but it's literally in Reverse we're a Serial Killer's perspective we still don't know his background or why he does it just that he does it but he himself is getting closer and closer to the hero and uh it is an interesting moment when uh he sees lady Raven backstage uh after getting his daughter up there with my daughter is just survived lukemia she thought she was cursed it's just like wow you lying bastard um but when he sees her backstage and you you just can tell he's he's got he it's the moment of her uh having a what's that called it's the moment of her using her asthma spray that a we learn oh wow this not only does she have a dark history as a child but also she has asthma but she's still going out there and Performing you know I mean it's like all these little details and layers of the character slowly are getting revealed but it's the moment she does that that all of a sudden you see the shot the shot changes a little bit in the way we see Cooper look at her you see the interest you see that he wants to do things you know what I mean he wants to and he lives off of torture so we can only imagine what he was thinking about doing but what I just thought was interesting in that moment was it's it was the the the Breather that made him go oh okay and even with that in mind when he pulls her aside later and shows her the video of the the current his current victim who's chained up and and he brings up uh carbon monoxide that's that's what causes us all to have trouble breathing and it's almost undetectable and it can just sneak up us sneak up on us at any time and she's like what why are you saying this and then showing him the video but it's it's almost like he's saying this because he saw her need to use the little asthma spray machine I forgot what it's called I don't know why I'm sorry forgive me you know what I mean but but I feel like he's bringing up because of that he's like you have a vulnerability that I know about you know where you need this spray to survive well um you know imagine not being able to breathe really not being able to breathe because something's killing you silently that's what's going to happen to this guy you know what I mean so he in in in a very targeted way he's bringing up something she's bringing up her vulnerability without even saying that he knows her vulnerability uh so she's hitting her in a personal way with someone she doesn't even with information about someone she doesn't even know about and I just thought that was just even in the within the movie itself without M9 interview I thought wow that's really messed up but also just like with the uncle oh that's my daughter like family to family right oh and uh he knows that they're looking for the dreamer girl so it's like well uh she she survived cancer so and even though he's not asking for anything he's basically setting up a premise for this guy to go oh it's kind of like make a wish it's like oh well this person really needs a lift up and father father to Uncle family member to family member uh having someone deal who's dealt with such horrible things and wanting to lift them up you know what I mean all that psychological work is happening and it's happening so fast that these people can't even stop and realize they're being manipulated but and I go back one more time to because I love this is seriously my favorite Cameo from M night because he's just I thought it's his best performance because he's so relaxed he's playing a character who's relaxed and maybe it's just truer to his own natural character you know definitely in the interview he seems friendly but it just he just was so relaxed I believed his performance it's not like I didn't believe him when he was the doctor in the six sense or when he was the drug dealer and and unbreakable it's not like I didn't think he did a fine job but I thought without question you know even in like the village when he's not directly on camera it's a bit stilted it's a bit too serious it's like you're really leaning in on this certain type of acting or this certain kind of mood for your character um and you just kind of to me I feel the weight of it uh although again it's not a bad performance but you're just like man you're kind of just leaning in on this particular way of delivery and it was really nice to see him give himself a role where not only is he directly on camera cuz I I I thought he was okay in glass with that Cameo where again I just thought it was a little too big but here he was just just so chill and and I 100% bought when Josh hartnett's talking to him that he's really listening to him and and go and you just know you know well hey man the thanks for letting me talk to you yeah you know yeah well oh man that's messed up about your you know I just thought man he it was just a very good scene like if you're going to give yourself a scene where you're talking and interacting with the characters directly um to give himself a scene this time around that's not so intense but also I just thought he delivered I was like oh what a nice little but what I really liked was when just a few minutes later when Knight's tapping his tapping Cooper's shoulder to let him know hey your daughter is going to be the dream girl um CU you know again that's the other thing he doesn't bring up dream girl he he acts completely ignorant of it uh but this is the actual reason for Cooper to interact with the uncle uh but when M might is tapping on his shoulder he instantly has like this almost James Bond like response another thing I'm like whoa are we about to have like a a literal mission impossible James Bond fight sequence right here just the way he reacted and this is you know action movie rules but also these rules do apply literally across all movies uh but I think the best example for you know the reason I can look at this little reaction and detect what it really means is is it's something that we all we all understand when we watch all of these movies when an action scene happens and and the hero or a particular character has a sort of automatic response meaning it's clear that they've trained that they've kind of prepared for a scenario like this uh because they're not going they're going oh I'm ready to go let's go you know what I mean um but I think the finest example of this is actually the movie I think it's black dragon I'm not 100% sure cuz I haven't seen it in a while but here's a movie that starts off with Jackie Chan it's one of his movies made back in China and it's a good flick um but when it starts off you don't know anything about Jacky Chan at all you just kind of see him in his normal life but you don't actually know anything and I think he's like a waiter in this bar or or no he's a waiter in a restaurant and then all of a sudden this gang comes in and they're like a martial arts school gang type of deal and they're messing with people and finally they get to jackiechan and they're like I can beat anyone in here how about you and Jack's like me and then the guy like I I can't remember if he takes his uh like he takes that his tray out of his hand or something some kind of exchange happens and they kind of like they they look like they're about initiate a fight and Jackie Chan just immediately goes back into his into a Kung Fu defensive mode and everyone laughs because they're like oh okay well you know looks like he is going to fight but just that visual tells you and even though it's defensive he's like oh this guy has some sense of training we can't tell how good it is but the fact that he just immediately went back tells you right away he has training he we don't know if he's going to win the fight but he has some training and then the way the fight goes he ends up being the best of all of them and defeating the entire game um but just you know that's visual storytelling you know you know what I mean the that that you can see that interaction or describe it to someone and go oh okay I see he has training he's ready to go uh but that's what I feel like is the again the inner joke of this being like a really it's it's like a spy movie but for a serial killer uh but that moment of this I just immediately thought oh no this movie is going to go in this unexpected way where he's going to like Kung Fu M Night shyal on and kick him through the crowd and Chuck him 25 feet for some reason all that flooded through my head just because of that one moment but thankfully uh quickly calmed down because 's like hey that's your daughter right yeah I think you guys should come with us she's going to be the dreamer girl I was like what oh my God uh again I I just love Josh Hart and's performance because he plays perfectly the waspy dad who doesn't really he's not really hip you know what I mean he plays it so perfectly but of course with the lighting although it's clear the characters the other characters aren't paying attention to the lighting much like I think most of the it's not really noticing the lighting but the lighting is telling us that when it Shades over his eyes or it splits his face the lighting and how close we are to his face we know that there's more going on behind where you can tell this face is a mask you know cuz so so happy oras the regular person's happy here he's happy here like it just literally looks like he's forming his flesh into this mask of the happy wasp person and um you know and I really I really love how he interweaves lady Raven into the story to make her the hero and this is really what I want to get to is like if this is a scream in reverse and and if technically speaking lady Raven's the hero of the story you know again where the it's just told in Reverse where we start from the Killer's perspective and then get to the hero's point of view with all the reveals and everything but if we if we're looking at it from that point of view then the fact that the movie has these split environments is really irrelevant the the real you know that's just what we have is the the sort of Honey Cove of of an easy structure to understand when we're inside the stadium and he wants to escape and we it just feels like that's what this entire movie is or is supposed to be because we have a structure of a completely easy to understand plot and a a character who even though we don't know everything going on with him we understand his emotional struggle his emotional struggle is to maintain being happy wasp not hip dad while also protecting his secret identity of being a serial killer and and we totally understand it and when he gets out with Lady Raven it's like oh is the movie over and you know it can't be over especially when lady Raven says can I see your house you know what I mean and and and she's literally she's taking the tools that were used on her by Cooper and and turning them against him it's totally V8 kind this [ __ ] you know I'm sorry sorry if that's too much uh but you know what I mean she's she's taking his tool using it against him and so with that in mind even though structurally really the structure of the of that first half is all about him escaping and then the second but really he's still trying to escape you know the problem is that the hero has now ens snared him uh so if you really think about on that in that sense there is no first half or second half I mean the this the environment changes but if this is hero versus villain you know what I mean in in a typical horror movie Sense usually the first half of the horror movie is the hero going to different environments meeting different people as her story is revealed uh and and its connection to the Killer and and however it will for War you know you know whether it's the the the cute girl who studies too much and she's going to go party for the first time and here's her collection of friends who this guy's the [ __ ] this guy uh is into her this guy uh is a creep you know these are all the cannon fods uh and then you get to a stuck location where the hero will be forced to face the villain uh it's very much the opposite we start in a stuck location where the villain's trying to get out and then we go to multiple locations where uh the hero the villain is trying to still trying to get out but he's been snared by the hero if you kind of look at it from that point of view really it's scream flipped on its head and if the structure if the real battle is ideological between hero and villain and their Collision is what we're going toward then there is actually no literal split even though the environment changed and the tone changed and the pacing changed there's no actual split because all this movie really is is these two people coming head-to-head and just that neither one of them expected it to happen you know that's the and that's the other flip of scream is that in Scream Sydney is the intended target the whole time it's just the killers they're they're killers and they want to kill people so they're killing people but in many anyways their killing of these other people is like their bloodthirsty practice for what they're going to do to Sydney and uh in this case it's the opposite this guy is in his top form he's been doing it for years pretty much nobody knows about it and and now he's just he's he's a he's an animal in a cage he's trapped in a box and his only way to get out is to interact with the hero and and use her as his own savior uh but you know when she befriends the daughter to get him back that's when it becomes just a direct uh like a chess match at first but it really becomes like then the pey pieces get knocked away you know the the you know and I love when she uh hides in the bathroom and she's hearing the family screaming like get out of the bathroom give me my phone back and all this stuff and you know what I mean it's just and even though you don't see the panic and and Madness uh just hearing it and and sela's reactions are perfect you know what I mean I I I really love her performance uh I think the M I think everything but the line your husband's the butcher is I think everything with that line delivery was was perfect but I also feel like you know and I'm criticizing that one line but I also feel like maybe that's also kind of natural because she's in a completely unnatural situation you know what I mean and and she has to tell someone that her husband's a killer and she doesn't even even though she knows it she doesn't even believe she's in this it's like you're kind of it's like out of outter out of body you know it's like I don't even believe I'm in this situation but this is happening you know what I mean and so that that kind of beautiful awkwardness in its own way like in movies the the LIE is that everyone says everything perfectly and perfectly emotionally articulates themselves in a way that is satisfying and emotionally palatable in the real world that's not really how people talk you know what I mean uh in a movie someone gets drunk and says the exact lines God I I just wish I I met the love of my life life uh in the real world someone gets drunk and says the worst thing possible to someone and friendships are ended you know what I mean in the real world you know someone gets drunk and they tangent for five hours about uh conspiracy theories or you know some some [ __ ] that happened to them in grade school that actually is irrelevant to anything happening them right now but it feels so relevant because they're drunk you know what I mean it's like in the real world that's what actually happened and people don't say things right and people when they're revealing their inner emotions even though they may feel inside they're emoting so much you know so when I was a kid my father beat me you know what I mean it's like in the real world there's all these little things that are just when you say it and comes out of you it might come out in a little squeak it a and I don't say it quite right and you can't hear me but in movie it's when I was a kid my father would beat me I was a ritualistically put in a burlap sack and beaten I can tell you there's nothing like having your testicles Shor it's breathtaking you know in a movie all of these things are said perfectly to either make you cry or make you laugh you know what I mean all of these things are happening to manipulate you you know what I mean like you're the one being targeted by the psychopath that is the the director of the film um but you know it's it's a completely different math because the director's job is to project it you know the director's job is not to do it it's to get the actor as close as possible as humanly possible to delivering the performance to get the cinematographer to put the light in the right place so that when you watch the movie I feel every emotion you are throwing at me [ __ ] I'm so sorry or wow nothing is nothing as great as having your testicles Shor okay all right thanks thanks drct you know what I mean uh I mean these these are the things the filmmakers are trying to do but I just wanted to tackle that sort of the the the notion that this is two movies I have to disagree knowing now what the filmmaker is really thinking I don't think it's really two movies even though plot-wise it is it's two plots but it's all really the same character motivation the same character conundrum that yes he's out of the stadium but he is not home free and even when he goes home everything blows up in his face and and it makes me love the scene with the wife even more uh I do this I'm doing this podcast now called sag's Final Cut and I will be talking about em night's Daughters movie The Watchers actually where I have a problem with that ending and when when that podcast comes out you can watch that and it's not it's not like I slam his daughter because I just want to be like well you know you're not as good as your father I'm not I don't do any nonsense like that but I just talk about how I felt that ending does something similar to this ending but to me it does it a bit rushed I think it's uh that's how I feel about it but you you can see that in that podcast and here is where literally my suggestion for that movie from uh Final Cut this podcast that'll be coming out soon uh the exact suggestion I made is what happens here in this movie where it seems that Cooper you know not only does Lady Raven manage to use her social media celebrity to to free the guy and and again our villain Cooper being technically still the out of touchdown Dad this is where it really shows itself is when finally she opens that bathroom door it's like and he looks at his phone and the guy is gone it's like how did you do that you know what I mean and like there's a skill that he doesn't have and it's a skill that he can't access because again if it's the ideological battle where his superpower is compartmentalization and I you can't see me so I can do whatever I want uh then that means he can't recognize her super superpower which is everyone can see me and so I can get things done without having to do them myself uh and especially in the case of saving someone's life you know because because I just have this exact bit of detail of information that would be useful in the scenario uh and I I again I even like her performance in the little social media video usually in movies those are my least favorite performan is because I feel like I can feel the actor feeling the self-consciousness of wow I have to do this cell phone video section or just it just looks awkward in terms of the cinematography and I just thought it was kind of cool how it looked very natural and uh and she did a very good naturalistic performance where I was like oh and again it's the weirdness what I one thing I like about M Night shyan's directing goes back to the six sense where there's a behind the scenes clip where he's talking to Haley Joe Osman little Haley Joe he's he's he's older now he's he's a big guy just like me maybe not as big as me but he's a big guy just like me it's like yay um and he's still a fantastic actor he was great in Tusk for those of you who like horror movies you might not like Tusk I keep recommending it but nobody really likes it I love that movie I think it's topnotch horror comic in every sense of the word and I sincerely mean it but anyway uh he's in that movie Just for if you're looking for Haley Joe Osman he's in future man ha he's in season 3 best scenes ever funniest dumb [ __ ] ever uh and he's in Tusk and and I think again on Tusk he's just delivering a great performance like this guy didn't lose an ounce of ability but anyway in the behind the scenes of six sense he's talking to Haley Joe Osman and it's like Haley Joe osman's like man this Situation's kind of weird and uh and I might be mixing it up it might be a different actor in a different movie but I I'm pretty sure it's this one he he's like this is weird or this makes me feel a certain way and and I literally stops him says hey go with that that's if that's how it just go with how it feels to you um just don't forget your character's who your character is you know what I mean like your character is still this character but don't but yeah if it go with how that feels and I have copied that same direction when I've made my own shorts it's like hey if this feels off to then go ahead and put it in uh whatever the because it is weird it's literally in my short 007 I only need one uh when I'm directing Katie Kramer in the funh house sequence uh I I just right up front I told her like hey if this this feels weird looks Weir it is weird it's [ __ ] weird you're in the weird ass place so it's okay to express that don't feel like you have to pretend to be cooler than this because you're playing an assassin this environment is by and I don't even say this part but by Design this environment is meant to freak you out and make you feel like what the [ __ ] am I in so don't run away just if that's your instinct go with it make it a part of the performance H and but I get that from M Night shy Milan saying that to Haley Joe Osman with making that ghost movie uh but it's also very interesting in this interview on the podcast that name I can't remember but the link will be in the description where he talks about when he made unbreakable he was like very serious and every shot had to be the shot and everything was exactly the way he wanted it um and then he talked about when it came to this movie he had totally reverse that because Cooper is such a bizarre character and uh he he just kind of had to throw his old adages and ideas out of the way like okay just go with how it feels and he even talked about in terms of writing the script because he didn't have any Studio influence but also because this is how this movie is just it went where he internally felt it should go again because the character is so bizarre um and so that that's why the movie has this split because he felt like he can't control this character the character is such a control freak the way he's come up with and it's like I can't control this character and confine him into a conventional box cuz he will find a way to get out of that conventional box and uh and then quite literally at the end of this movie uh he's he's chained up and they put him in a Patty wagon um and and he finds a way to unlock his chains and I'm like wow but it almost makes me feel like is this movie going to end and also I kind of don't want to I kind of want to see what happens next you know what I mean and I think that's that's great and I was really affected by how the emotional Stakes once once we got to know the wife what I felt was was interesting is although my initial Instinct after the movie was like why didn't the movie start at the house with the wife but the answer that to that question is because then you know you would go back there if you knew you were going to go back there the structure of the film can't possibly surprise you it's it's a thriller you're supposed to be surprised that things happen but what I thought was really beautiful in retrospec of thinking about the fact that now once we get in the limousine the perspective of the movie changes and now we're seeing the movie through lady Raven's perspective and this perspective the perspective shifts don't stop either and that's what I think is interesting but it now she's the hero she's taking the camera like oh only Wayne and G get to take the camera and Co have to talk to the camera you know but once the perspective shifts then we're seeing his family we see them outside the house the the doting wife and the sweet son and at first nothing seems off but it's when they're inside the house and everyone's sitting around the couch and you see you know you see that the wife can't see er's face but he's basically eyeballing uh lady raven like what the hell are you doing what are you going to do you know and um but it's in that scene that I felt like I was looking at the it's Allison pill who plays the wife I've seen her in a few movies I think she's in Snowpiercer where she plays you know I it's it's again I I talk about this in a different review that's to come but again it's another actress who I'm I'm so used to seeing them play these smaller roles where it's that character has this one note to do it's not the actor it's the character has this one note to perform and they perform it and I know she did her absolute best to give it some nuance and lirer but it's it's it's one of those roles where you know they're going to die or get killed offer in some kind of way or when it happens you're just not surprised but to see her in this just uh although in the outside of the the house she seemed like a normal happy wife she was already holding her son like to hold to hold your kid means one of two things it means intimacy closeness like this is my kid or I'm protecting them you know what I mean and you know I couldn't quite read it out on the outside of the house but when they're inside the living room and the wife is the furthest one away from Lady Raven and the way she's looking she's doing all the things of yeah yeah uh I'm sorry I tried to the fact that she's kind of apologizing about not making enough food the way she's doing it she almost seems like the jilted housewife like like I know something's wrong with my husband but I don't really know what so I'm trying to be friendly you know what I mean I'm apologetic and I'm scared but I don't know why you know what I mean like that it was coming out of that pretty clearly you know to me watching it even while it was happening but you know everyone does such a good job of hiding their true feel feelings you know and this is kind of the nature of I think a lot of people not every person some people do wear their feelings on their sleeves um but uh and I I'm most of the time I'm one of those uh but here we are and she looks like the jilted housewife and it's very it's interesting but so we're technically we're getting the story through this perspective without it being explained to us and that I think is M Night shyamalan's greatest Talent as a filmmaker although he does have characters who give Exposition it's only so that the plot and can move forward you know it's it's only just enough exposition to make the character choices make sense you know what I mean and it's it's usually not Expos Exposition about the character exactly but kind of circulating around the character um and I think this evidence the most in split but I love it in signs um but yeah I just uh but when it gets to you know lady Raven once once it gets to the cops showing up at the house and Lady Raven is is again taken away by Cooper you know what I mean he uses The Truman Show he does The Truman Show in Truman Show spoiler alert Truman uh digs a hole for himself to escape with uh with no one looking uh out of his house you know and it's just like [ __ ] Cooper did The Truman Show like again it's a '90s throwback right that's a '90s movie he [ __ ] did The Truman Show Escape um but the movie doesn't really stop being lady Raven's point of view until she gets out of the limousine so once she gets out of the limousine the movie then goes to the wife and we're in the wife's point of view and she and there's this actress who I didn't even mention is there's a character throughout the movie who is like a a doctor she's made her career on identifying uh Psychopaths and serial killers and helping the government find them and during when we come back to the house and the wife and Cooper's gone and the kids are now gone uh the wife wife asks her you know do you where where asks her what she does and she's like I'm I'm a lecturer I'm a professor and she asked where can I see your lectures and you just that's our like first real hint that she's kind of been on to this stuff or at least this whole experience has made her realize I need to know more you know what I mean and uh and when takes this perspective then we see Cooper again um I really and I do think the fact that the movie switches perspectives is probably another jarring thing for the audience because the audience is used to these all of these things that happen happening in the front of the movie because like as I've said in other other reviews every movie is about its own rules and basically the way movies are supposed to work is that the filmmaker shows you those rules up front so that you can basically go with the movie momento starts starts off with literally a scene in reverse and then intercuts very brief scenes where we are going backward in time and also in black and white oh no uh where we're going backward in time in color color scenes so we'll see an event in a color scene and then we'll go to a black and white scene uh and then we'll go back to a color scene where we see the the scene that happened before that event and so on and so forth but in the black and white scenes we're all going forward and you know part of that is because Nolan understands the audience does need some some kind of convention to to wrap their head around this very bizarre structure now that's a very extreme situation um you know but in in most movies uh including horror movies or action movies when we have these perspective shifts it's usually just a hard cut and oh we're talking to this character now we're talking to this character uh somewhere else and it's like okay so the movie's going to bounce around um and they start with that so you understand or like the movie Crash we start on one story where there's a car accident and it's all these people happen to be on the same exit where they can't go because of the car accident and then the story sprawls out seeing their individual Journeys um and then we'll see how some of them will connect again later in the film and that's basically the rules of that script what this movie does and I think it actually it's quite brilliant is it totally turns that on its head where all of that stuff happens in the back half of the movie and I think it feels in congruent because we're so so used to movies frontloading us with what to expect and like I said my initial Instinct was like put the wife in the front of the movie so that we can just get some hint of all these things to come but at the same time that's not what this movie is this movie the whole point is that this guy has held a perfectly split life until today and again once M night shamalan said that I mean it's obviously that's how it is in the movie but once he said that it really really made me think about that's why the movie starts at the concert that's why it starts there because you don't even need to know that he's fooled his wife for the most part or fooled his family or his neighbors you just know that he's driving with his daughter and they're having just a normal day and then they go to the concert they're having a normal day everything's normal until the cops start showing up and then his reaction to that and then he finally asks the merchandise who was great by the way I think I left him out earlier but the merchant the merchandiser who's selling him t-shirts he was awesome I thought I recognized him I looked up the IMDb I've not seen him in other stuff but I hope to see him in more cuz I thought he did the best version of this it's a very it's this is one of those conventional roles in in this type of movie where he's the guy who oh man you hear what's going on this would be in the '90s this would be Jamie Kennedy oh you know what's going on this stuff is going on is it kind of exciting is it weird Whoa man you know what I mean and uh I think this is the best version of it yet because he's he's a merchandiser so he couldn't be further away from the plot than anybody whereas in scam it's like it's the it's neev Campbell's like friend it's her best one of her best friends um and I just thought wow this is crazy this is uh uh because he he just played it so earnestly and I feel like and also I just feel like I've met this guy like I've I I I've met and had one of those like you know those sort of brief friendships like this is a guy working at a place and he sees my t-shirt and he realizes that I'm a nerd and he's a nerd too so we just all start talking he's just such a friendly guy and he's like oh you're a friendly cool guy too and there's just those cool and i' I've met that guy a couple different times and they're always doing their job and uh and then all of a sudden you just have a moment where you're bonding over or something or something's happening and you have a shared perspective on it and you're like ha oh you're cool I think we get along so I just thought it was it was the best version of that character in this movie but not only that it was like again just like the daughter how I feel bad for her because once we know 10 minutes in that he's a serial killer like oh this is not oh at the very least you're just going to have the worst day of your life because everything's going to bust out at the end of this movie um uh and I just feel the the the looming tragedy of that um but it was the same thing with this guy it's like Oh Oh no you're so excited and you're bonding with him but he is pretending to bond with you he does not give a [ __ ] you know what I mean and I was so scared when they did walk and he let him in the back to get a box and and you got to say this is pretty good cover cuz at this point you know he's being seen walking around with the employees then he steals Cooper steals this guy's card and now he's walking around with employ so he's been seen by the cops several times as an employee or at least someone who clearly the employees know you know what I mean like maybe we didn't see him earlier but clearly the employees know this guy so he he just gives himself such a perfect cover but during that scene when they go get the box and he's shorter Cooper is taller than the merchandise and you can hear the merchandiser gets on some kind of step ladder it's not high enough and he's just and then Cooper just because he's so tall just picks it up and he's like wow you're a strong man you know what I mean and and again I've been that guy where I'm the taller one so I can reach the things so it's filled with so much with just normal mundane Humanity that it's just it's so relatable as a film and then when it gets to the box cutter moment where he's like oh can you hand can you hold this box cutter for a minute it's weird cuz when I worked in retail the box cutter was actually attached by a wire specifically so that we wouldn't lose it but most people didn't have the wire but some did um and that was the recommendation if you can get get it with the wire so that you're not losing your box cutter around cuz someone could take it someone could get hurt but here was a situation though his box cutter ain't attached and he hands it to the guy and again we're knowing he's a killer for 30 minutes at this point and I just had this horrible tension of like oh my God is he going to kill this guy in the scene and then he doesn't you know again if if a dead body starts showing up the people are going to be watching the cameras and he's going to be caught but just that tension is part of the the fun play of this movie um that it rides it's a thriller it's not a straight horror movie it's not a slasher fake it's a thriller so in in those terms it's really just about that constant tension uh and I just love scenes like that and then circling this back to talking about the wife when we get to that confrontation and it's revealed and I and I really actually like the I love the dialogue and I love heart its performance of it because it's the first time in the entire movie that he sounds honest and he says you know I thought the stadium was the Trap which again that's also the writer and director communicating to the audience Oh I thought that's this was a trap but actually the Trap starts here you noticed something and I didn't notice that you noticed it and again that's also this is the rules of the story unfolding where everyone where it's really revealing like everyone has this ability what he does is a common human thing to do but he just does it to such an extreme and so well that literally nobody can detect it but all of us in our lives are hiding a secret are hiding a pain uh are hiding something about ourselves or hiding an opinion because we know other people may not like that or may they may judge us even if it's not our fault they might judge us in some kind of unfavorable way for something that happened to us and we all do it and I think especially in these kind of cases and and I think we've seen on interviews before like I had no idea my son would be a serial killer I had no idea my husband was a serial killer oh my God but you know did you really not know and I think what's cool about this scene with their confrontation and it's in her perspective is that she's literally laying out like and being honest like yes I did notice and I thought you were having an affair and and then it turned out I wasn't and that's what freaked you out and I just thought whoa you know what I mean I just thought wow again another talking about a convention like cheating which is totally just a normal domestic issue and the fact that oh it's not cheating well then that's very [ __ ] scary what the hell are you doing with the secret house you know what I mean and uh I just love the the learning about everything and even though you know I think although the rule is show don't tell it's not really a true genuine rule because so much of the time we are all just telling things that people can't possibly see hence why people can be a good liar because you're telling a story about yourself that might not even be true and people are just going to eat it up because they think you're being honest um but when you look at this moving you look at this relationship um and this whole scene is about being honest and being yourself and well now that I'm being honest and being myself what does that mean but one of the things that really scared me during this scene you know or actually I think maybe he said it earlier no no his there's two moments that scared that genuine scared me because actually I related to it um when he pushes when he hides the family after banging on the bathroom door it is a scary moment to think oh [ __ ] where'd the family go and even lady Raven's like what how how did you get rid of them what the hell happened you know and then he says well I locked him in my daughter's room um I have you know he has keys to every room um but then when he gets lady Raven in his wife's car he tells he says this line to Lady Raven he says just one more just one more murder suicide and the monster can stop and that's when lady Raven tries to manipulate him using things prepared for her by by the professor who's helping the cops um and that's you know it was such a weird thing but I what I what it such a weird moment for me where I didn't think it was her performance was wrong I was just like why is the scene going this way but the fact that he was just onto it like oh the professor told you what to say you're saying the fact that he was onto it bought me back but when he says the murder suicide part it was actually the suicide part that got me I was like oh so he does feel I mean he's a bit of a psychopath but he absolutely does have feelings and you can see that the the words that lady Raven's saying where she's trying to talk to him as if she's his mom you know this this presumed history this expected history um no one actually knows and he never actually tells but we get the sense the wife does know but when he said the suicide part and he talks about ending the monster this is a carryover from split that really wasn't explored but it was it was put forward where it's like this guy doesn't want to be the monster but he just knows that he is and he can't control it and and he he does does want it to stop you know and when he says those lines to the wife and the kids it's like the water you know the water heater's fine and finish your homework and and be good kids you know what I mean like I felt in that moment the lines that he was now saying the suicide part like oh [ __ ] like like he meant it he means it and and it really made me feel bad for him not bad enough that shouldn't go to jail just bad that oh you you're a victim of something else and and you're really like the sad truth of the movie is you're a victim of yourself you know like you have this inescapable desire when you talk about compartmentalization this is the exact opposite where he is revealing himself to Lady Raven in that car just one more and then I'll end the monster and Lady Raven feels feels bad for him too it's like I don't want you to kill yourself I don't want you to delete yourself I don't want that but Jesus you do have to stop you know and it's just like that level of humanity to both want the right thing but also have compassion was very touching and it's all what we could all Only Hope for in in life and I I do feel like if more people had that level of humanity and compassion to still still do the right thing and fight the good fight but at the same time have a level of human compassion this would be a better world but unfortunately people do things for reasons that often don't make sense and for emotional reasons and to impress somebody to look good to the to society people do everything hence why monsters are formed because everyone wants to please Society this this this vague con concept that is all the other people that are around us so that we don't get you know chased away with pitchforks because we know that's how people are but you know if people could have that balance of being capable like lady Raven of taking action and doing the right thing when you're able to do it and you know take the bull by the horns and it doesn't mean physically fighting him but it does mean outsmarting him and challenging him with moves she's capable of doing in the moment that won't get her killed uh you know she's you know using his tools against him you know if if all of us could have the will to do the right thing while still maintaining a level of human compassion for even the person that we have to put down or stop you know we could it could be a better world but uh this is nonetheless the world we live in and I think it's it's as low as and as as much as it deres compassion from me I think it's incredible that he keeps escaping like Jason Bourne you know what I mean it's like that's to me why I again I'm not calling this like the A++ best movie on Earth I think it's just a really good movie I think it's a really entertaining movie you know what I mean I think split is like the best movie on Earth but this movie is just really [ __ ] fun um for me I'm having fun with the fact that he's basically like doing Tom Cruz moves throughout this entire movie makes me laugh it makes me feel like this movie is really a comedy it's a it's a comedy you know what I mean it's a comedy joke on horror movies because the Killer escapes over and over and over again in increasingly unbelievable ways where how did no one notice him slipping out of his SWAT outfit and somehow propping it up in the car and how did he do that so quickly like that's ridiculous it's ridiculous but it's also it's no more ridiculous than how did none of the cops notice him swiping that uh you know that walkie it's such a gigantic walkie that you know only because he's so tall can he hide it in his giant ass pants you know what I mean but it's such a big Walky out of such a big because no one's looking in that direction and not only that he played the role so well of being just I'm just an employe he just trying to get my coffee you know what I mean that then he made no one notice him he knew he knows how to become invisible and the the best way to be invisible is to be perky it's like ah no one wants to deal with a perky person in the morning everyone's just trying to get their coffee and do their job it's like God get out of here you know it's like it's not that kind of day today sir go away you know what I mean but but nonetheless that's a giant ass walkie you yanked out of that thing you just hide it in your pocket you know I love that I was like wow you know this movie is full of of him being a secret agent and then when at the end he's totally going to get away again um I I I couldn't help but still feel that Joy of like okay you know this movie took us to some Dark Places and certainly we had the fear of death but it's just the fact that he gets away in these increasingly spy slash kind of ridiculous ways I just think this is kind of a comedy too this movie has a sense of humor about it it's just a sense of you're not you're just not hearing and it's a joke you're just hearing you're just getting all the things that make it clearly a joke but you're not hearing you know what I mean but that to me is what the ending is the ending is the punchline like here we go again more Fun's going to come because I'm just too good at what I do you know you know and I knew it I knew I knew they were going to do something there's only one reason they wouldn't be handcuffing him behind the back and uh that would be because he is going to need a conveni way to escape um it's just like why don't we just kill him Dr Evil no no no that's not how it works you know what I mean so anyway that's my complete thoughts on trap I I thought it was really solid solid film making you know there's nothing wrong with this movie I don't think um and I understand where people would be coming from when you're watching it it feels like an in congruent experience I I totally get that but it's just the more I thought about the movie especially after watching the interview and having a good night's rest uh the more I thought about it I was like no this movie is on point it actually is one complete story and one complete premise uh it just feels like it's not because and I think it really just has to do with environment you know because if it's a basically a one location even though there's multiple locations because we're just in the stadium at all times it feels like that's what this movie is and also that's what the trailer told us so once we went off the beaten path you know it really like oh it's going to go this way but if you really think about it if you really think about who the hero is and who the villain is when you think about that the daughter idolizes her and she has a message for the daughter the message is also for him you know to let go of past pains and to make some something positive with your life and and again I it's in his look but I didn't quite read it that way I was more thinking about in his mind this is a when everyone turns on their light from their cell phone in his mind this is like wow all the cameras okay but I also love that when M might Shan talked about that moment he from his point of view this is actually a silent ejection from Cooper saying I'm going to beat all of you cuz also it did also seem like a defiant move from him not to put his cell phone light up you think he would because he's basically you know everything else his daughter is doing he's kind of mirroring it and reflecting it except that I noticed that like you know his daughter wants the shirts he's in the shirts his daughter wants food he's in the food his daughter wants to go on stage he gets her on stage you know what I mean um only because it benefits him but nonetheless it still benefited her and and it gave him that moment of I did a good dad thing you know what I mean and I and again I just love that layer you know what I mean I just um I think if you do your best to be a good parent or a good older family member to kids you know that feeling of I I did I did a good uncle thing I took my nephew and he had a great time at the park I I did a good thing yay he's happy he's not throwing attention because he he got his little runaround cool you know what I mean or I got him his favorite toy and he smiled Oh yay you know just so to have that relationship to this movie where I'm like oh I'm seeing the I know that look that's the proud parent proud older relative look of I I did a thing that made the kid happy yay you know what I mean I'm with it you know but then to watch him hearten it go back and forth between and now I'm a psychopath looking for everything and I'm like this this is why I think it's a wild ride because really it's one movie about a man who has his compulsions but also has his uh has his methods you know and I think if I had to compare this movie to anything it's scream and the killer that came out recently with Michael fast Bender which you know what I I didn't even think about how that movie had a sense of humor too cuz I didn't like the movie when I watched it because I thought thought wow he's called the killer but everything he does doesn't actually work out you know what I mean but actually that's the that is actually the joke of the movie The and spoiler alerts I'm sorry um but the movie starts off with this incredibly almost pretentious voice over about how well planned out everything has to be to do your job right and then immediately he shoots the wrong person he gets exposed and he has to run and uh this failure leads to everything else and literally everything else he does in the movie he fails in some kind of stupid way and it's just like the the joke of the movie is that he is not as competent as he thinks he is he might you know look good he's Michael fast Bender handsome man he might uh have a mostly good plan but there's always some element that he doesn't think about or doesn't expect and it totally screws him over and almost gets him killed every single time and not in the kind of way of oh the person I'm trying to get is just so good just in that wow he did not think far enough ahead or he was not actually prepared for the situation he put himself in um and that that he survived is ridiculous uh whereas this movie to me the joke is the opposite it's just like this guy is so stupid good at everything how is anyone supposed to catch him you know what I mean it's like and then when you give him the convenience of not being you know handcuffed behind the back it's like yeah come on I thought you trying to capture him like you can't just give him free hands man you can't give him free hands and why would you let him pick up the bike I mean that was so weird um but again these are the filmmakers conveniences that allow the ending to happen and again it's a cliffhanger you don't know for sure what's going to happen next is he going to go back to his wife again or is he going to let that go and go do other horrible things you know is he now just allowed to be free serial killer doing whatever he wants to do you know I I'm down for a trap two I don't need a trap two but I'm down for a trap to you know what I mean I'm very curious where this would go um because in many ways I feel like this movie is the action version of Hannibal Lecter you know Hannibal was a it was a creepy horror movie uh about a serial killer on the loose uh whereas this is movie is very creepy but like I said his spy like Precision makes it a [ __ ] joke to me where in Michael fast Bender's movie he's incompetent but he thinks he's great this guy is just too good it's it's ridiculous I just can't I can't not think it's funny I was like dude I saw this in Mission Impossible 3 I know what you're doing you know what I mean you clearly watch Miss impossible one two and three a lot um and got better than Tom Cruz at it clearly godamn put you in a put you in a CIA and as long as don't start killing people again you do fine damn um anyway so that's my full and final thoughts on trap really enjoyed this movie um I topnotch film making from a top-notch filmmaker uh but it's not the kind of movie that's like begging for Oscars but it doesn't need to it's just wellmade says what it has to say and like I said I had a just I feel like I was in on so many jokes that this movie was actually making um um about all this stuff and uh and I loved it and again Josh hartnet I thought whoa I expect great performances from everyone else and I knew you would be good but I wasn't expecting you to be that good Josh hartnet this is a great movie to have where your main actor is really surprising and I I love that this this is kind of the year of that Anya Taylor joy and furiosa was great LEP yongo in a quiet place day one was great but Josh hartnet was unexpected I didn't think he had creepy layers and he could do it so well I'm like dude look at you holy [ __ ] I want now I want more of you again like God damn it do trap or do some other spy movie do something I want to see more of exploring what you got your tool belt dude cuz I didn't know you'd be this [ __ ] creepy but also creepy in kind of an engaging entertaining way I was like oh okay all right you know because I think it's still that kind of bold bad boy coolness you know what I mean there's still I don't know if that's just him or just the fact that that's what he did when he was started out that it's just kind of a baseline ability but the fact that he could just be occasionally so very cool and I'm like ah it's still there I you're still smoking that cigarette and blowing the smoke in FKA Johnson's face I see but you're doing underneath wasby dad face you know what I mean like what wow it's like I want to punch you in the face until you start staring at things and I'm like ah go away great time great movie wow this was a long one thank you for watching Aloha can't wait for the next one M Night awesome [Music]