31 Days of Halloween: Trap

2024, M Night Shyamalan (The Visit) -- download

Full disclosure, its definitely more a thriller than a horror, but we approached it as Shyamalan's latest flick about a serial killer, and thought it would turn down the horror road, but it did not. That said, the road it did turn down (one near the Roger's Centre) was very satisfying. Well, maybe for me the Proud Shyamalan Apologist, but I did enjoy myself immensely and liked how so much of the movie was not trying to have us Root For the Bad Guy, but literally see the tables turned on him at every turn. I also liked that  he (he Shyamalan) knew we would see trailers, and the "twist" (or premise FFS) was revealed almost immediately. The movie was all about how it would play out.

An anti-Shyamalan from Shyamalan???

So, we have Cooper (Josh Hartnett, Oppenheimer) and his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue, Wolf Like Me) off to see a big concert for a popstar Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan, feature debut; she actually is a popstar) who at this point in time would be a Taylor Swift analog. We are talking a young singer with LEGIONS of fans packing a stadium in the middle of the day, a stadium also mysteriously (not mysteriously, remember trailer) packed with cops and federal agents. Cooper learns quickly, from one of my favourite Toronto actor / Skittles Guys Jonathan Langdom (No Tomorrow), they are indeed here for him, a serial killer known as The Butcher because he disassembles his victims. We also learn quickly that he has a young man trapped in a basement who he keeps checking in on via a phone app.

I wonder, is it an off the shelf serial killer app, or did he have it custom written on the Dark Web?

So, on his mind: find a way out, and keep his daughter oblivious. There is a bunch of fun cat & mouse game stuff where once again, I get distracted by Shyamalan's film techniques popping up here and there, his usual nods to directors like Hitchcock. By distracted, I mean I love it, because I do so love a well framed shot. Eventually his machinations lead him to positioning his daughter in the place she would love the most -- on stage with the popstar. If anything this derails her suspicions, because she has constantly asked him, "Dad, why are you being weird?" He knows his only way out of the stadium is through the pre-approved entourage of the popstar, so he... corners her and admits all, but with the not-veiled threat of murdering the young man trapped in the basement. Lady Raven has no choice but to help him escape.

You are now entering Spoiler Territory.

This led to my favourite plot turn. Lady Raven is no meek fraidy-cat and positions herself in a situation where she forces him to reveal himself, tragically to his oblivious suburban family, and she can use the power of her Lady Raven Army of Fans to find & release the trapped young man. The act is not entirely realistic, but its a beautiful thriller technique wherein she has less than two minutes to mobilize thousands of fans, crowd-sourcing the location of the trapped man from only a few scant clues.

Lady Raven gets to play a hero for proud daddy M Night. Of note, while I so did not enjoy the music in the movie, I was so impressed at how real it all felt. Sure, Saleka is a real popstar so she probably has a fanbase, does stadium shows, has real music she has produced and performed, but it was how it was presented and how the teen girl fans reacted that felt so very real.

But no, again, the movie is not over yet. Sure he's revealed, and sure the FBI shows up immediately to arrest him, but the movie reminds us that he is actually smart, and he has been evading the authorities for years through meticulous planning. BUT again his machinations are foiled by a woman he thinks he can easily manipulate, his wife (Allison Pill, Star Trek: Picard). Whether you like them or not, I always love that Shyamalan movies make active choices and you rarely feel like you are just a plot on rails.

So, not a horror movie, but a solid thriller in my books.

And yes while the movie is obviously shot in Toronto, it is still Philadelphia.