Trap (2024) Review

A father, Cooper and his teenage daughter Riley attend a pop concert of Lady Raven only all is not as it seems when a trap had been set to find a most wanted serial killer.

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The thing is though Cooper is that serial killer, something that is actually revealed in the trailer just incase you think that is a spoiler and it is mentioned early on within the film. I do think if that had been kept secret a little longer it might have all hit even harder. Anyway on the way into the arena Cooper was rather edgy about the number of police and security that were around.

He kept checking what was happening and could see men in different areas being removed, due to his rather charming nature he befriends Jamie a man working on the merchandise stall who tells him it is all a trap to try and catch ‘the butcher’ and gives away a lot of information I must add. This is when it gets serious for Cooper figuring out how he is going to get out of this mess his is now in, with his daughter Riley oblivious to it all.

I have to admit that I wasn’t fully prepared to feel so tense and anxious about if Cooper would manage to get out the arena, you know totally forgetting that this man was in fact a very dangerous and sadistic serial killer. Given that we don’t actually see him kill anyone and only hear a couple of small facts could be the reason for this, and showing him as a rather good dad with his tween daughter at the concert?

Anyway that was how it made me feel and that put me on edge. I wasn’t really expecting the way the second act would go and that made it even more entertaining. I guess like all Shyamalan films it keeps you on the edge of your seat, and I have to admit that I am not his biggest fan with probably being half and half over his filmography so I wasn’t really sure how this one would go!

That second act really pushed the boundaries into thinking about serial killers a little bit more and learning about how they are profiled throughout. The balance of two very different lives and the strange nature that will then come with that. A couple of things I wasn’t expecting happened within this act as well, I figured he was a single father and split from Riley’s mother in all honesty.

Josh Hartnett deserves so many plaudits for carrying the film and giving the very different sides to it all. I personally think its great to see him in this leading role and given his very limited film appearances in the past decade or so, this confirms that he is indeed a very talented actor. Loved seeing Hayley Mills in a supporting role as well, albeit limited screentime.