Trap  (2024)

I kept thinking of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyder as I watched writer/director M. Night Shyamalan’s suspenseful film unfold. The two sides of actor Josh Hartnett are as disparate as those of actor Spencer Tracey’s character  in the 1941 version of Robert Louise Stevenson’s classic novel.

The film is set in a huge arena in Philadelphia where a father has brought his teen daughter to a concert put on by her favorite singer, so there is music and dancing intermingled with suspenseful intrigue that will hold you spell-bound. Cooper’s (Hartnett) daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) has aced her report card, so he hasrewarded her by bringing her to a lavish concert staged by her favorite superstar, singer Lady Raven  (Saleka Shyamalan). Even before they enter the arena, Cooper notices that there are an extraordinary amount of police present. As they move through the crowded hallways, he notices more cops in riot gear taking up positions, virtually all of them armed with rapid-firing guns.

Riley s disappointed at the merch table when the shirt she wants is sold to someone else, but seller Jamie (Jonathan Langdon) promises Cooper to hold one for her when he replenishes the supply. Cooper asks him about all the cops, and Jamie quietly says that he isn’t supposed to say, but the cops have come as part of a trap for the notorious serial killer “The Butcher.” The authorities had received word that The Butcher has tickets to the concert, so all the exits have been blocked to ensure that they can arrest him.

Of course, we soon learn that this caring father is The Butcher, and that at present he has kidnapped and tied to a chair another victim, named Spencer (Mark Bacolol), whom he has scheduled for death and dismemberment. So, while standing with Riley and presumably enjoying Lady Raven’s singing and dancing, he is trying to figure out how he can make his escape without tipping off his daughter to his alternate identity. This makes for many a suspenseful moment, especially when he is able to steal a police walkie talkie and listen in on the police calls.

He has to think up several excuses to leave Riley and go to exploring the building. He finds that all exits are indeed blocked. He notices several times police arresting and escorting away a single male that might answer to the general description they have. Also, there is a grey-haired FBI agent who is a profiler. The casting of the profiler, known as forensic psychologist Dr. Josephine Grant, is a delightful inside joke, because she is played by veteran actress Hayley Mills, whom if you are old enough to remember, was the young star of the 1961 film The Parent Trap—get it?

Riley does begin to wonder about her father, and becomes a bit annoyed, by her father’s frequently leaving her side, but this is soon forgotten when the star’s manager chooses Riley to join Lady Raven on stage. Cooper has cleverly manipulated affairs when he had met the managers—Cooper had lied that his daughter is recovering from leukemia. What follows is full of surprises, when the over-joyed girl is called up to meet her idol, and then after the concert, Lady Raven is forced to accompany the pair out the exit of the performance section—no cop suspecting her party would contain the killer—and eventually to Cooper’s home where his wife and son are surprised and thrilled to meet the superstar

One of the surprises mentioned is how the cops learned that The Butcher would be attending the concert. Another is what happens in the police van at the end. And don’t walk out as soon as you see “The End,” lest you miss a funny scene with Jamie.

This is no film filled with life lessons, but it is one that will start your adrenalin flowing. Josh Hartnett expertly plays a deeply divided man, one who lovingly relates to his daughter one moment, and lives up to his nickname the next, the kind of a depraved man described by the author of Proverbs. Fortunately for family viewers, we are not shown him at work, though there is a scene in which he is holding a meat cleaver. It was fun to see that the director’s own daughter plays Lady Raven, and that she can act as well as sing—she reportedly wrote 14 songs for the film.

This is a suspense film that will make you forget everything else for its duration, and yet, despite the nickname of the murderer, can be watched by the squeamish.

This review will be in the September issue of VP along with a set of questions for reflection and/or discussion. If you have found reviews on this site helpful, please consider purchasing a subscription or individual issue in The Store.