Thomas’s review published on Letterboxd:
A fun little genre exercise that shows M. Night Shyamalan in his natural element. “Trap” is a small-scale cat-and-mouse thriller with an interesting premise and a fresh setting that seems to blend two of the director´s main influences, Hitchcock and comic books. The film aims for an enjoyable balance between thrilling and silly and for the most part, it succeeds. With every new Shyamalan flick there come reviews that contemptuously call it “unintentionally funny” and once again, I have to shake my head at that. I don´t know how he could wink even harder at the audience in a tongue-in-cheek way. “Trap” is intentionally funny and it intentionally doesn´t aim for naturalism. It´s a wacky movie. Shyamalan is not a self-serious snob; he is a nerdy dork with a sincere love for filmmaking who can laugh about himself. Sure, his humor is often awkward but that´s part of the charm. You could say he tells dad jokes, which is fitting, since even more than a fun little genre exercise, “Trap” is a dad movie (specifically a girl dad movie), on a narrative level, on a thematic level, and on a meta level (Shyamalan making the movie to give his daughter a pop star role as a gift). Man, even a pulpy thriller about a deranged serial killer Shyamalan manages to infuse with some genuine sweetness (at least that´s my reaction to the father/daughter motif). I feel like at this point in his career, he basically is a dad who makes movies, which is a nice thought. He for sure still has his excellent formalism going for him. He knows how to build tension and how to use the camera in an exciting way. And he knows when to embrace the silliness. Sure, there are plot points and lines of dialogue that made me scratch my head or roll my eyes but ultimately, this didn´t hurt my enjoyment too much. And yeah, the third act is drawn out and indulgent but hey, each scene is exciting on its own and if you think about it, Shyamalan only takes the absurdity already present in the first two acts and dials it up a bit more for the (extended) climax. Lastly, even more than a fun little genre exercise and a dad movie, “Trap” is the Josh Hartnett show. He is a gem. He knows exactly what kind of film he is in and what´s expected of him, and he delivers 100%, nailing both the supportive father and the vicious, unstoppable killer who feels like he just stumbled out of Shyamalan´s Unbreakable trilogy. Not a dull moment with him on screen (which is almost all the time). I also liked his chemistry with Ariel Donoghue, who plays his daughter and a believable superfan (maybe the most believable aspect of the film), and during the last act, Alison Pill also gets to shine. To conclude, despite some screenplay flaws, “Trap” is cheeky, masterfully directed, entertaining, and carried by an amazing lead performance. It isn´t more than it is but what it is, is a good time at the cinema.
